342 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



PARUS ATRICAIPlLiLXJS NEVADENSIS Linsdale 

 PALLID BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE 



Dr. J. M. Linsdale (193Sb) gives the above names to a local race of 

 the long-tailed chickadee, which he says is "resident along streams , 

 in the Snake River drainage system south of the Snake River, in j 

 northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho." He describes it as "similar 1 

 to P. a. septcntrionalis, but coloration paler, with whitish edgings to 1 

 greater wing-coverts, secondaries and lateral rectrices broader, more 

 conspicuous, thus reaching the extreme in these respects for the 



species, but close to P. a. turneri from which it differs in larger size." 



I 

 i 



PARUS ATRICAPrLLUS OCCIDENTAiLIS Baird 



OREGON CHICKADEE 



I 

 I 



Plates 52, 53 j 



HABITS i 



j 



This western form of our familiar blackcap occupies the northwestern i 

 coast from extreme southwestern British Columbia to extreme north- I 

 western California. It is described by Ridgway (1904) as similar to' 

 P. a. atricapilliis but decidedly smaller (except bill and feet) and colora- . 

 tion very much darker ; back varying from deep mouse gray or very 

 slight bufify slate-gray in spring and summer to deep hair brown or 

 light olive in fall and winter plumage; sides and flanks (broadly): 

 pale grayish buff in spring and summer, deep brownish buff, wood 

 brown, or isabella color in fall and winter ; whitish edgings of innermost 

 greater wing-coverts, secondaries, and exterior rectrices more restricted 

 than in P. a. atricapillns." 



Its haunts and habits are similar to those of our familiar eastern' 

 chickadee. W. E. Griffee tells me that it "is abundant all through the 

 hardwood timber of western Oregon valleys but is very much less 

 common in the coniferous timber, particularly during the nesting 

 season." 



S. F. Rathbun says in his notes that "it is a Transition Zone species 

 and not to be found at any considerable altitude ; the highest we have 

 noticed it being 550 feet; it seems to prefer the lowlands," in western' 

 Washington. | 



Nesting. — Mr. Griffee says (MS.) : "Probably nine-tenths of the; 

 nests are in dead willow, cottonwood, and alder trees and stubs, at 

 least one of these three tree species being found wherever the Oregon 

 chic.kadee nests. Nesting holes usually start with an irregular opening 

 about 1^ in diameter and are 8 to 10 inches deep. Often they are 

 within 3 or 4 feet of the ground and rarely over 10 or 12 feet. Cavities, 



