CHICKADEES 605 



set in my collection was taken at Mayfield, Kentucky, May 8, 

 1894, from a hole in an apple tree. These eggs are white, 

 profusely speckled and spotted with reddish brown, and measure 

 0.60 X 0.45, 0.71 X 0.50, 0.67 x 0.50, 0.68 x 0.52, 0.69 x 0.52, 

 0.66 X 0.49. In general five to eight eggs are said to be laid. 



Genus PARUS Linnaeus. 



735. Parus atricapillus Linn. Chickadee; Black-capped 

 Chickadee. 



Plumage : crown, nape and throat black ; the breast and sides of the head 

 and of the neck white ; wings and tail dull slate gray, the feathers more or 

 less margined with whitish ; back mouse gray ; belly and sides washed with 

 pale buff. Wing 2.58 ; tail 2.58. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, breeding from the Alleghany Moun- 

 tains in North Carolina, and from southern Illinois and Pennsylvania north- 

 ward; wintering throughout its range, and a few stragglers wandering 

 southward in winter. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; abundant resident, (Johnson). Arooos- 

 took; common resident throughout, (Knight). Cumberland; common resi- 

 dent, (Mead). Franklin; common resident, (Swain). Hancock; common 

 resident, especially on the wooded islands, (Knight). Kennebec ; abundant 

 resident, (Gardiner Branch). Knox; resident, (Rackliff). Oxford; breeds 

 commonly, (Nash). Penobscot; common resident, (Knight). Piscataquis; 

 common resident, (Homer). Sagadahoc ; common resident, (Spinney). 

 Somerset ; common resident, (Morrell). Waldo ; common resident, (Knight) . 

 Washington; common resident, (Boardman). York; common resident, 

 (Adams). 



Though one of the commonest and best known of our birds, 

 and a resident species throughout the State, I hesitate at the 

 task before me of attempting to delineate the life history of so 

 versatile a species. A volume devoted to this species alone 

 would not give space sufficient to tell what should be told, but 

 I will attempt to briefly follow this tame, confiding, humorous, 

 inquisitive, intelligent and versatile bird through the life of 

 one year. Going into the woods on New Year's Day we will 

 not proceed far before we hear "chick-a-dee-dee" or a "dee-dee- 

 dee-dee-dee" or other variations of this call. By standing or 

 crouching without motion and imitating the call or by making 



