PARID^ — THE TITMICE. 105 



They nest, like all the others of this genus, in holes in soft decayed trunks 

 and large limbs of trees a few feet from the ground. Their eggs are not as 

 yet known. 



Parus hudsonicus, Forst. 



HUDSON'S BAY CHICKADEE; BROWN-CAPPED CHICKADEE. 



Parus hudsonicus, Fokstek, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 383, 430. — AuD. Oni. Biog. IT, 

 1834, 543, pi. cxeiv. — Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 155, pi. cxxviii. — Baiud, Birds N. 

 Am. 1858, 395; Review, 82. — Samuels, 185. — Dall & Bannister (Alaska). Purus 

 Imdsonicus var. littoralis, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. IX. 1863, 368. 



Sp. Ciiak. Above yellowish olivaceous-brown ; top of head purer brown, not very 

 different in tint. Chin and throat dark sooty-brown. Sides of head white. Beneath 

 white ; sides and anal region light brownish-chestnut. No whitish on wings or tail. 

 Tail nearly even, or slightly emarginate and rounded. Lateral feathers about .20 shortest. 

 Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.40 ; tail, 2.66. 



Hab. Northern portions of North America, from Atlantic to Pacific. 



Specimens from the most northern localities appear larger than tliose irom 

 Maine and Nova Scotia {P. littoralis, Bryant), with proportionally longer 

 tails (3.00 inches, instead of 2.40). . AVe can, however, detect no otlier 

 difference. 



The Parus sihiricus of Europe is very similar in coloration and characters 

 to the P. hitdsonicus. The principal difference is seen in the cheeks, which 

 in sibiricus are pure wliite, this color extending along the entire side of the 

 neck, widening behind, and extending round towards the back. In hudsoni- 

 cus the cheeks behind the eyes and sides of the neck are ash-gray, the M-hite 

 being confined to the region below or near the eye. The smoky-gray of the 

 upper part of head aiid neck in sibmcus is in a stronger contrast with the 

 brighter rufescent-gray of the back, and is separatetl from it by an obscure, 

 concealed, whitish dorsal half-collar, represented in htulsoiiicus only by a dull 

 grayish shade in the plumage. 



Habits. This interesting species, one of the liveliest and most animated 

 of its family, belongs to the northern and eastern sections of North America. 

 It is found in the eastern and northern portions of ]\Iaine, and probably also 

 in the northern parts of New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. In the 

 heavily wooded mountain-valley of Errol, in the latter State, Mr. Maynard 

 met with this bird in the latter part of October, in company with the 

 common atricapillus. In the same month he also obtained two birds in 

 Albany, in the northwestern corner of Maine. A single specimen was 

 taken at Concord, Massachusetts, October 29, by Mr. William Brewster. 



Near Calais it is resident, but not common. It is more abundant in tlie 

 islands of the Bay of Fundy, where it takes the place, almost exclusively, 

 of the atricainllus. The writer first met with these lively little wood-sprites 

 14 



