28 NESTS AND EGGS OF N. A. BIRDS. 



with an axe. She had finally to be taken from her eggs by the 

 hand, and tossed into the air, before they could be uncovered. 

 After they had been taken, both the male and the female returned 

 to the hole, and insisted upon remaining there even after the last 

 vestige of the nest had been removed. 



The eggs are seven in number, and range in measurement from 

 .64 of an inch by .50, to .63 by .49. They are of a rounded oval 

 shape, much more pointed at one end, and six of the seven are of 

 pure unspotted chalky white. They are untinged with any shade 

 of green, and bear no similitude to a recent illustration purporting 

 Xo be this ^g^. The seventh t^^ is slightly more elongated than 

 any of the others, measuring .49 by .64, is of a pure chalky white- 

 ness, but is marked over its entire surface with fine rounded dots 

 of reddish-brown. The contrast between this spotted t^g and its 

 immaculate companions is quite striking. 



The nest is a warm impacted mattress made of felted masses of 

 the fur of small quadrupeds intermingled with a few hairs. It is 

 four inches in diameter, the wall about an inch and a half in thick- 

 ness, and the cavity nearly two inches deep. When found the 

 eggs had been slightly incubated." — T. M. Brewer, Bull. Nutt. 

 Orn. Ciub, Jan. 1880, p. 47. 



41. PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, 



BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. 



This species is numerous throughout Eastern N);ih America. 

 The Chickadee, or Black-capped Titmouse, constructs its nest in 

 hollow fence-posts, decayed stumps of trees and hollow logs ; often 

 in the immediate vicinity of inhabited dwellings. The nest is usu* 

 ally a warm and soft mass of hair and fur of the smaller quadru- 

 peds, downy feathers and fine dry grasses. If the cavity is larger 

 than necessary, they construct a deep and purse-like opening. The 

 eggs are five or six in number — white, with a delicate rosy blush 

 when fresh, speckled all over, but most thickly at the larger end, 

 with small reddish-brown spots. They average .58 by .47. 



4la. PARUS ATRICAPILLUS SEPTENTRIONALIS. 



LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE. 



"The Long-tailed Titmouse appears to have an extended distri- 

 b ution between the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains, 



