PARID.E PARUS ATEICAPILLUS VAR. SEPTENTRIONALIS. 21 



PAEUS ATEICAPILLUS var, SEPTEXTRIONALIS, (Harris) Allen. 



Long-tailed Chickadee. 



Parus sepienirionalis, Harris, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1845, 300.— Cass., 111. i, 1853, 17, 80, pi. 



14.— Bd., B. X. A. 1858, 389.— Scl., Cat. A. B. 1861, 14.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 164.— 



Bd., Rev. 1864, 79.— Stev., U. S. Geo!. Surv. Ter. 1870, 464.— Aiken, Pr. Bost. 



Soc. XV, 1872, 195.— Snow, B. Kaus. 1873, 6. 

 Parus atriciipilhis var. septentrionalis, Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. lii, 1872, 174. — Coues, Key, 



1872, 81. 

 Parus septentrionaVts var. albescens, Bd., B. JST. A. 1858, p. xxsvii. — Coop., Am. Nat. iii, 



1869, 74. 



HaJ). — Kansas and Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. Northward to the Fur Coun- 

 tries. Southward in alpine regions to New Mexico. Up mountains to the limit of 

 arboreal vegetation. 



Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



Lieutenant TTarreti's Expedition. — 8827-8, Black Hills; 4732, Fort Leavenworth; 4733, 

 Big Nemaha River. 



Later Expeditions.— 60i'33, Bitter Cottonwood ; 60693-4, 60961-8, Fort Bridger, Green 

 River, &c. 



A part of these specimens are from the same area and nearly the same 

 locality as Mr. Harris's originals. 



Since I have been on the Upper Missouri I have taken pains to secure 

 and measure carefully a number of the Titmice of the region. They are 

 all large, averaging 5.50 in length, with wing from 2.40 to 2.75, and tail 

 from 2.G0 to 2.80 ; the hoariness of the wings and tail is conspicuous. I 

 have found no tail quite 3 inches long, but that dimension is shown by 

 a specimen in my cabinet from the mountains of New Mexico ; I doubt 

 that this length is ever exceeded. 



The specific identity of the various current "species" of North Amer- 

 ican iilack-capped and -throated Titmice seems to have been first recog- 

 nized, or rather suspected, by the late Dr. Henry Bryant (Pr. Bost. 

 Soc. 1865, 308), well known as one of the most accomplished ornitholo- 

 gists of this country. But it remained for Mr. Allen to prove the point 

 and explain the natural co-ordination of the several forms. Measur- 

 ing twenty-seven specimens, all from Massachusetts, he finds the total 

 length to vary an inch — from 4.70 to 5.75 ; the extent to be equally va- 

 riable — 7.50 to 8.G0 ; the wing to vary from 2.33 to 2.63 ; the tail from 

 2.15 to 2.07. These extremes embrace the dimensions of both ^'■septen- 

 trionalis''^ and ^^caroUiiensis" which are thus shown to intergrade with 

 atricapillus proper. We can oidy predicate a variety by taking an aver- 

 age: ^^ carolinensis^^ is the smaller, because more southern, form, with 

 a minimum of hoariness; '■'■ septentrionalis''^ is the other extreme; it 

 shows an average length of tail above the average of typical atricapillus., 

 and an extreme of length that the latter never presents. 



I find that, as Dr. Hayden says, this bird is very abundant in the 

 river-bottom all along the Missouri, where it is one of the few birds that 

 endure the rigors of wiiiter in this bleak region. I observed it in small 

 restless flocks, generally in the shrubbery, in company with tree si>ar- 

 rows, which are also abundant at that season. During the winter they 

 have only the characteristic "chickadee" note, but iu spring, at the 

 approach of the breeding season, they utter a peculiarly soft long-drawn 

 note of two syllables, somewhat ditterent in intonation from that of the 

 common species. Mr. Allen found this form in Eastern and ^Middle 

 Kansas; in the mountains of Colorado, up to about 11,000 feet; in \V\- 

 oming; and in Utah. It occupies alpine regions as far south as New 

 Mexico. 



Dr. Cooper quotes var. occidentalis from the Eocky ]\Jountains of 

 Montana. 



