BIRDS OF x\MERICA 



grayer above and the under parts and white edg- 

 ings of feathers more purely white. 



The CaroHna or Southern Cliickadee (Pcn- 

 thcstcs carolinciisis carolincnsis ) and its variants, 

 the Pkunbeous, or Texan. Chickadee (Pcnthcstcs 

 carolincnsis agilis) and the Florida Chickadee 

 (Pcnthcstcs carolincnsis inipiijcr). are smaller 



than the Rlack-capped Chickadee, with relatively 

 shorter tails and larger bills, with little, if any, 

 white on wings and tails, and with the black 

 throat-patch abruptly defined posteriorly. They 

 are found in the southeastern United States east 

 to eastern Texas, and north to Indiana, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 



MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE 

 Penthestes gambeli gambeli ( Ridgway) 



A, n. U. Number r,l8 



General Description. — Length. 544 inches. Upper 

 parts, olive-gray : under parts, black and white. No 

 crest ; bill, shorter than head ; wings, long and rounded ; 

 tail, shorter than wing, slightly rounded. 



Color. — Crown and hindneck, uniform black, with a 

 faint l)luish gloss; oi'rr the eyes a zvliitc stripe: cheeks, 

 chin, throat, and upper chest, uniform deep black, very 

 sharply defined posteriorly; sides of head and neck 

 between the two black areas, white ; back, shoulders, 

 lesser wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts, plain 

 olive-gray or mouse gray, the rump more strongly 

 tinged with olive ; wings and tail, dull slate color with 

 gray edgings; sides and flanks (broadly) and under 

 tail-coverts, olive-gray (paler and more tinged with 

 olive than back) ; center of lower chest, breast, and 

 abdomen, white; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In natural cavity or a 

 deserted Woodpecker hole, from 2 to 20 feet up ; made 

 of grasses, rootlets, sheep's wool, cattle hair and, very 

 frequently, rabbits' fur. Eggs ; 5 to 9. plain white 

 unmarked or spotted with reddish-brown. 



Distribution. — Mountains of western United States, 

 from the Rocky Mountains to the coast ranges ; north 

 to British Columbia, northern Idaho, Montana, etc., 

 south to western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 

 northern Lower California. 



Drawing by R. Bruce Horsfall 



MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE (J nat. size) 

 Its call has an accent of good cheer and tendern 



The Mountain Chickadee of the West is a 

 shade larger, and of slightly dififerent coloration 

 than its well beloved eastern relative, but in 

 habits and disposition the birds are very similar. 

 The western bird moves in short, fluttering 

 flights from tree to tree, is much given to cling- 

 ing to twigs upside down, and shows the same 

 friendly curiosity about human loiterers in his 

 neighborhood that is characteristic of his east- 

 ern cousin ; and his call, though somewhat dif- 

 ferent in the arrangement and quality of its 

 syllables, has the same accent of combined good 

 cheer and tenderness. It is in the coniferous 

 regions of the mountains that he is found. 



