378 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



For some moments the two chickadees flew about nearby, uttering faint scolding 

 notes of alarm and continued to gather insects from the ends of spruce boughs. 

 It was not until I had seated myself and remained quiet that one of the birds flew 

 to a clump of spruce trees, a lone birch and a cedar. Presently the chickadee 

 dropped down low behind the cedar for an instant. Suspecting it might be the 

 nest, I approached and discovered the nesting cavity hidden in the cedar. Fifteen 

 inches above ground the cedar, not over six inches in diameter, divided into two 

 upright branches at an easy angle. Where th.ey joined on the inside, a space fully 

 ten inches in length, the secret lay — ^an ideal cavity with a narrow opening. Within 

 the nest were young birds Vvell feathered, nearly ready to leave. When I re- 

 visited the nest on July 5, they had departed. Search of the vicinity failed to 

 discover any of the fledglings or of their parents. The nesting cavity contained 

 finely shredded cedar peelings and bits of decayed cedar. But the bulk of the nest 

 consisted of moss and deer hair. 



Several other nests have been described by other observers, all in 

 very similar situations and made of similar materials. The cavity is 

 often filled with dry or green mosses, bits of lichens, fine strips of the 

 inner bark of cedars and the down from ferns ; but the main part of 

 the nest, where the eggs are hatched, is a well-felted bag c.omposed of 

 deer hair and the soft fur of rabbits or other small mammals, making a 

 warm bed for the young. 



Eggs.— ThQ Acadian chickadee has been known to lay four to nine 

 eggs to a set, but apparently the two extremes are uncommon. The 

 eggs vary in shape from ovate to short-ovate, and some are rather 

 pointed. They have very little or no gloss. They are white and more 

 or less sparingly and unevenly sprinkled with fine dots or small spots 

 of reddish brown, "hazel"; occasionally the spots are concentrated in a 

 ring about the larger end. 



The measurements of 40 eggs average 16.0 by 12.2 millimeters; tlie 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 17.4 by 11.6, 15.8 by 12.9, 

 14.7 by 12.7, and 15.3 by 11.4 millimeters. 



Young. — ^We have no definite information on the period of incuba- 

 tion, which is probably about the same as that of other chickadees, or 

 about two weeks ; other young chickadees usually remain in the nest 

 14 to 18 days. 



The Pettingills (1937) watched their family of Acadian chickadees on 

 Grand Manan for an entire day, from sunrise to sunset, each taking 

 turns, with the following results : 



Both sexes shared equally in the feeding. Frequently they arrived together and 

 one stood by awaiting its turn to feed while its mate entered the hole with food. 

 On several occasions one bird passed the food to its mate returning from the nest 

 who immediately re-entered the nest to carry it below. * * * 



During the course of the day the birds fed their young 362 times. The first 

 feeding took place not long after break of day, at 4:46 a.m. One bird was already 



