NUTHATCHES AND TITS 459 



740b. Parus hudsonicus colurabianus Rhoads. Columbian 

 Chickadke. 



Top of head hair brown; hack lighter brown; sides of head white ; throat 

 blackish ; flanks dark reddish brown ; median under parts whitish. Wing : 

 2.70, tail 2.04. 



Distribution. — Rocky Mountains from Liard River south to Montana. 



741. Parus rufescens Toivns. Chestnut-backed Chickadee. 

 Adults. — Throat blackish brown ; top of head and back of neck hair 



brown ; superciliary black ; back, sides, and flanks dark reddish brown ; 

 rest of under parts and sides of head white. Young : top of head, back of 

 neck, and throat dark sooty brown ; back dull chestnut, ting-ed with olive ; 

 sides ashy, partly washed with brown. Length : 4.50-5.00, wing 2.35-2.60, 

 tail 2.00-2.30. 



Distribution. — From Alaska south to California, east to Idaho. 



Nest. — In stub, 12 to 40 feet fi-inu the ground, lined with cow hair, rab- 

 bit fur, feathers, or moss. Eggs : white, unmarked or minutely spotted 

 with reddish. 



At Cape Disappointment, Washington, Mr. Kobbe found the 

 chestnut- backed chickadees affecting preferably the more open 

 woods along roads and trails. Thev were very common all the year 

 around, especially during the rainy winters, when large flocks of 

 them could be seen scrambling about on the branches of the drip- 

 ping firs in search of insects. They were often found with Oregon 

 chickadees and golden-crowned kinglets. Their call- note Mr. 

 Kobbe gives as a lisping the-the-tlie-te-te. 



Mr. Walter Fisher found the birds very abundant on Mt. St. 

 Helena in August and September. 



741a. P. r. neglectus Ridgw. California Chickadee. 



Similar to the chestnut-backed chickadee, but sides and flanks light 

 grayish, only lightly tinged with brown. Wing: 2.30-2.00, tail 2.00-2.20. 



Distribution. — Coast of California, from Monterey northward. 



GENUS CHAM^EJA. 



General Characters. — Plumage soft and loose ; lores and gape bristled ; 

 rounded wings much shorter than graduated tail ; bill much .shorter than 

 head, stout ; nostrils naked. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Under parts dark ruddy brown. Coast region of Oregon and California. 



phaea. p. 400. 

 r. Under parts light pinkish or yellowish brown. California, except north- 

 west coast district fasciata, p. 459. 



742. Chamsea fasciata Gamh. Pallid Wren-Tit.^ 



I'pper i)arts gray, tinged with olive or brown on posterior part ; tail 



' ('hniiKTa Jasciata intermeilia Grinnell. 



Bark and upper tail covertfl sepia; tliroat and breast cinnamon rufous. 



Distribution. —Type locality, Palo Alto, California. {Thf Condor, ii. 86.) 



