212 XATITKAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALxVSKA. 



traveling tbrongli the silent snow-clad forests of the Yukon, as he tramps wearisomely on, until the 

 mind is unconsciously affected by the lack of animation. At such times, as we move mechanically 

 forward, the shrill, strident note of the Chickadee, as the bird eyes us from its swinging perch ou 

 a bush close at hand, breaks the silence and diverts the mind. Frequently the chorus of their 

 Lilliputian cries arise from the bushes all about as the jolly company of harlequins swing and 

 balance their tiny bodies and pass on as though too busily intent upon affairs of importance to 

 stop. After their passage the forest resumes its cheerless silence once more, and the heavy 

 breathing of the icy wind through the tree-tops or the sharp report of the contracting ice in the 

 river are the only accompaniments of the toilsome march. 



Their habits and appearance are like those of the well-known Black Cap in southern localities, 

 from which it is to be distinguished merely by its larger size and the greater amount of white 

 bordering the wings and tail, in addition to the general lighter color of the back. These dis- 

 tinctions are likely to vary cousider.ably in individual specimens; and, iu fact, it is frequently 

 diflScult to distinguish the two forms either by color or size differences. The western and northern 

 varieties are usually distinguishable at a glance by the much grayer back and lighter flanks of 

 septentrionalis. Among many specimens of the latter from Saint Michaels and the Lower Y^ukon, 

 the wash of brown on (he sides is almost totally lacking, and in two specimens no differences of 

 shade can be found iu the flanks or abdomen. In the south the differences iu shade between these 

 two parts become more and more striking. Although the northern birds are usually larger, 

 th^'e are exceptions to the rule. Neither iu midsummer nor in midwinter docs this bird reach 

 the coast of Bering Sea, and its breeding range is coextensive with the wooded country of the 

 interior and the timbered coast in the southeast part of the Territory. 



Tarus ateicapillus occiDENTALis (Baird). Oregon Chickadee. 



Hartlaub records two specimens of this Chickadee taken at Chilcat; he adds also "on Feb- 

 ruary 17 seen ou low bushes and deciduous trees near shore. Summer and winter always iu low 

 thickets near coast." 



Parus cinctus obtectus (Cab.). Siberian Chickadee. 



The first record of this species from America was published in the Bulletiu of the Nuttall 

 Ornithological Club, January, 1878, in which mention is made of several specimens, obtained by 

 Mr. L. M. Turner from Saint Michaels. The first American specimen of this bird, however, is a 

 female, which was sent to the Smithsonian Institution with seven eggs, from the Lower Ander- 

 son River, June 1, 1864, by MacFarlane, to whom credit is thus due for obtaining it first on this 

 continent. 



The habitat of this bird includes, so far as known, the spruce forests in Northeastern Siberia, 

 extending across a very similar region in the northern half of Alaska, and reaching the Anderson 

 River on the east. Its range does not appear to extend to the south along the Upper Yukon, as 

 a considerable series of Titmice, brought me from that i-egiou by the far traders, does not coutaiu 

 a single example. From the vicinity of Nulato, thence down the Y^ukou, and to the north and 

 northeast, this form appears to be as abundant as the Hudsoniau Titmouse, whose range it shares 

 in this region. From about Lake Baikal, iu Eastern Siberia, west through Northern Siberia and 

 Northern Europe, extends the range of a close relative of the present form, known as Parus cinctus, 

 ■with which this bird has been confused until very recently. The original xlmerican reference 

 was given as P. cinctus, but a careful comparison of the large series of Alaskan birds in my collec- 

 tion with specimeus oi cinctus from Northern Europe shows a well-marked geographical difference, 

 which will be referred to below. 



Like most others of its kind, the Siberian Titmouse nests m hollows of trees, and has been 

 known to eject the rightful owner of a cavity and seize upon the site for its own nest. Its eggs 

 are usually placed upon a mass of hairs of the lemming and hare, combined with fine moss or 

 vegetable down. It lays from seven to nine eggs, which .are grayish-white, with reddish-violet and 

 reddish-brown spots often collected at the larger end. The eggs are broad in proportion to their 

 length. The North European bird is resident and comes about the houses in winter, where it 

 searches for food among the refuse heaps, and becomes extremely familiar. In Lapland this bird 

 uses natural cavities in trees, or such as are excavated by woo;li)eckers. Its cry is expressed 



