HUDSONIAN CHICKADEE. 151 



HUDSONIAN CHICKADEE. 



Parus hudsonicus. 



Char. Above, pale dull brown, darker on crown; cheeks white; 

 below, grayish white; flanks rusty; throat brownish black. Length 



5 to SX- 



Nest. In an excavation in a decayed stump, usually entering from the 

 top. On the bottom of the cavity is placed a platform of dried moss, and 

 on this another of felted fur, and upon this latter is set the graceful pouch- 

 shaped nest of firm felt, made of the inner fur of small mammals. 



Eggs. 6-ro ; creamy white with brown spots in a circle around the 

 larger end ; 0.58 X 0.58. 



This more than usually hardy species continues the whole 

 year about Severn River, braving the inclemency of the winters, 

 and frequents the juniper-bushes on the buds of which it feeds. 

 In winter, like the common species, it is seen roving about 

 in small flocks, busily foraging from tree to tree. It is said to 

 lay five eggs. Mr. Audubon met with it on the coast of Lab- 

 rador, where it was breeding, about the middle of July. He 

 describes the nest as being placed at the height of not more 

 than three feet from the ground, in the hollow of a decayed 

 low stump scarcely thicker than a man's leg, the whole so 

 rotten that it crumbled to pieces on being touched. It was 

 shaped like a purse, eight inches in depth, two in diameter in- 

 side, its sides about a half an inch thick. It was composed of 

 the finest fur of different quadrupeds, so thickly matted through- 

 out that it looked as if it had been felted by the hand of man. 

 On the nest being assailed, the male flew at the intruder, utter- 

 ing an angry te-te-te-tee. 



The Hudson Bay Chickadee is fairly common in the Maritime 

 Provinces, though more abundant in winter than in summer. It 

 has been found breeding, also, in the northern parts of Maine, New 

 Hampshire, New York, and Michigan, and in the Muskoka districts 

 of Ontario. Mr. Walter Faxon considers it a rare though regular 

 migrant to the eastern part of Massachusetts, but thinks it occurs 

 in numbers in winter amid the Berkshire hills. 



A few examxples have been taken in Connecticut and in Rhode 

 Island. 



