196 



CHICKADEES. 



1*. LABRADOR JAY, P. c. nigracapillus. Differs 

 from 1 but the dusky of top and sides of head is more exten- 

 Fig. 254. ded forward. Coast of Labrador, 



and Newfoundland. 



B* TITMICE. Paridae. 



Small birds but scarcely differing 

 in general form from A. Nest in 

 holes of trees ; eggs, 6 or 7, white 

 spotted with reddish. Food, small 

 insects and their eggs. 



a. Chickadees. Peiitliestes. 



Head, not crested ; plumage, soft 

 and fluffy ; wings, short, rounded ; 

 CC, B, d, 1. 1-8. tail, long. 



1. CHICKADEE, P. atrtcapillus. 5.60; gray above; 

 white beneath ; top of head and throat, black ; sides, reddish, 

 especially in winter, fig. 255. Eastern N. A. north of the 

 Potomac and Ohio Valleys. Common 

 Notes, ^'' Chick-a-dee-de-dee'''' given 

 with energy, a short, squeaking chirp 

 when disturbed, and other low notes; 

 along-drawn '•^Cee-dee''' given at all 

 seasons, often mistaken for the note 

 of the Phoebe, and a low, silvery song, 

 seldom heard. Flight, wavering and 

 unsteady. 



2. CAROLINA CHICKADEE, 

 P. CAROLiNENBis. Smaller than 1 

 with the line of demarkation between 

 the black and white of breast very 

 sharply defined, fig. 256. Southeast- 

 ern States from N. J. southward. Sings more often than 1. 



2*. FLORIDA CHICKADEE, P. c. impiger. Smaller 

 and darker than 2. Lake Ashby, Fla. 



nearly everywhere. 

 Fig. 255. 



CC, B;a, 1. 1-3. 



