THE BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE. 183 
winter as through the summer, and it is deservedly one 
of the greatest favorites. It 
commences building as early as 
the second week in May. The 
nest is placed in a hole exca- 
vated in a dead tree or stump. 
This hole is, like that of the’, 
Woodpecker, gradually widened - 
at the bottom, and is about nin 
or ten inches in depth. Th 
nest is constructed of soft moss 
and the hairs of different ani- 
mals. One beautiful specimen 
that I found in the northern 
part of Maine is composed of 
the hair of the common deer, Hudson's Bay Titmouse, upper fig. 
Black-cap Titmouse, lower fig, 
moose, and hare, a few feathers 
of the Ruffed Grouse, and a few fragments of soft mosses. 
They are woven into a warm and comfortable tenement. 
The eggs are from six to ten in number, usually about 
six. They are of a nearly pure-white color, with a faint 
reddish tint, and are spotted thickly, at the greater end, 
with markings of reddish-brown: their form is nearly spher- 
ical, and their dimensions vary from .65 by .52 inch to .60 
by .50 inch. Two broods are often reared in the season. 
The habits of this little bird are so well known, and have 
been written about so much, that any description here is 
almost superfluous. It is eminently kindly and sociable in 
its disposition; and, although almost always in company 
with other birds, —such as the Golden-crested and Ruby- 
crowned Wrens, Nuthatches, &c.,— it is never seen quar 
relling with them, but fraternizes with them in the most 
cordial manner. Often, when seated in the woods, have I 
been surrounded by them ; and their curiosity to learn the 
cause of my presence and my employment was so great, 
that they would often perch on a twig within two feet of my 
