750 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



Distribution. — South Atlantic and Gulf States, north to southern Mary- 

 land and (casually) Ohio, Missouri, etc. 



This bird must be considered as purely accidental in Michigan. The 

 only actual record (and that not free from question) is that published by 

 Dr. H. A. Atkins (Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 9, 1884, p. 81), which 

 reads: "Taken May 12, 1875 [at Locke, Ingham county, Mich.] This 

 bird was sent in the flesh to W. H. Colhns of Detroit to be mounted, but 

 on account of the warm weather it spoiled before reaching him." This 

 record doubtless forms the basis for Ridgway's statement (Manual of 

 N. Am. Birds, 1887, p. 560). "North regularly to lower ]\Iaryland and 

 Virginia, casually to Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, etc." 



Without questioning the general accuracy of Dr. Atkins' observations, 

 it may still be said that there is a large amount of individual variation in 

 the Red-bellied Nuthatch, and immature birds, particularly females, 

 often show irregular patches of white here and there about the head, while 

 the tj^Dical glossy black cap, with the sharp superciliary white line, is 

 found only in old and full-plumaged males. A slightly abnormal young 

 specimen of Sitta canadensis might have been mistaken for Sitta pusilla 

 by even so good a naturalist as Dr. Atkins. Nevertheless it must be 

 remembered that several other species which normally are found only 

 in the south have been taken occasionally in northern Indiana and Ohio, 

 southern Michigan, and western Ontario. The recent capture of the 

 Chuck-wills-widow at Point Pelee, Ontario, less than 30 miles southeast 

 of Detroit is a case in point (Fleming, Auk, XXIII, 1906, 343). 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



" Above plain bluish-gray, the top of head (down to eyes and ear-coverts) brown, bordered 

 below l)y a darker loral and postocular stripe; no superciliaiy stripe. 



"Adult: f Nape with a conspicuous white spot; tail-feathers (except middle pair) tipped 

 with white, the subterminal portion black; the middle tail-feathers without distinct basal 

 spot of white. Sexes alike. Young; Top of head grayish, the wing-coverts and tertials 

 edged with light fulvous" (Ridgway). 



Length 3.8c to 4.40 inches; wing about 2.60; culmen .50 to .60. 



Long-tailed Chickadee. Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis (Harris). 



(735a) 



Synonym: Western Chickadee. 



The Long-tailed Chickadee belongs to the Rocky Mountain region of 

 North America, extending eastward nearly across the Plains, but not 

 recorded (officially) cast of Iowa and western Minnesota. 



According to Ridgway it is similar to the common Chickadee "but larger, 

 with wings and tail averaging decidedl}^ longer; coloration paler, with the 

 whitish edgings of the greater wing-coverts, secondaries and lateral rectrices 

 broader and more conspicuous." 



This bird has been recorded for Michigan only by Dr. H. A. Atkins 

 of Locke, Ingham county, who states that he took a specimen at Locke 

 May 29, LS74, and another specimen a little later. He says: "The tail 

 was a trifle less than three inches, the size of the tarsus and foot excessively 

 large for so small a bird" (0. & 0., Vol. 19, 1884, p. 81). Apparently 

 the specimens taken by Dr. Atkins were not preserved, and in their absence 

 wc do not feel justified in giving this bird a place in our fauna. Kumlien 

 and Hollister include this sub-species in their list of Wisconsin birds, 

 stating that "in late fall and winter typical specimens are taken in 



