CHICKADEE. 179 



Titmice and Nuthatches. (Family Parid^.) 



Comparing the Titmice with tlie Xuthatches, the 

 former may be described as short-billed birds with loiii; 

 tails who do not creep, the latter as lonij^-billed birds 

 with short tails who do creep. The two groups are, in 

 fact, quite distinct, and by some systematists are phiced 

 in separate families. 



The Titmice number some seventy-five species, four 



of which are found in eastern Xorth America. The 



Chickadee connnoiiest and most generally distrib- 



Parusatrirai.iiius. uted is the Black-cappcd Chickadee, 



Plate LXX. ^hich is found from Labrador to Mary- 

 land and in the Alleghanies southward to North Carolina. 

 Farther south it is replaced by the closely allied Carolina 

 Chickadee. 



Throughout the greater part of its range the Chickadee 

 is found at all seasons, but it is less common in the middle 

 and southern Xew England States in summer than in win- 

 ter, and is most numerous during its migration in October. 



It is with winter that these merry little black and 

 white midgets are generally associated. Their tameness, 

 quaint notes, and friendly ways make them unusually com- 

 panionable birds ; one need not lack for society when 

 Chickadees are to be found. Many of their notes are 

 especially conversational in character, and in addition to 

 the familiar chirl'adee call, they have a high, sweet, 

 plaintive two- or three-noted whistle. 



The Chickadee nests about the middle of May, select- 

 ing some suita])le cavity or making one for himself in a 

 decayed trunk or limb and lining it with moss, plant- 

 down, and feathers. The eggs, five to eight in number, 

 arc white, spotted and speckled, chiefiy at the larger end, 

 with cinnamon or reddish brown. 



