THE CHICKADEE. 245 
No. 107. 
CHICKADEE. 
A. O. U. No. 735. Parus atricapillus Linn. 
Synonyms.—BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE; BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE, 
Description —Adult: Top of head and nape shining black; throat dead 
black with whitish skirting posteriorly; a white band on side of head and neck, 
increasing in width behind; back and scapulars gray with an olivaceous cast and 
more or less admixture of buffy at the edges and as skirting; wings and tail dusky, 
more or less edged, especially on greater coverts and tertials, with ashy or whitish; 
breast and belly white; sides, flanks and crissum washed with buffy or light rusty 
(nearly whitish in summer) ; bill and feet dark. Rather variable in size; one adult 
specimen in the O. S. U. collections measures: wing 2.27 (57.7) ; tail 2.10 (53.3); 
bill .34 (8.6). Another: wing 2.70 (68.6); tail 2.57 (65.3); bill .38 (9.7). 
Length, 4.75-5.75 (120.6-146.1); average of eight Columbus specimens of 
medium size : wing 2.60 (66.) ; tail 2.44 (62.) ; bill .36 (9.1). 
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; black of head and throat, and general 
gray tone of remaining plumage. Not certainly distinguishable by plumage alone, 
except in the hand, from the next species; larger. 
Nest, a heavy mat of moss, grasses, and plant-down, lined with feathers, hair 
or fur, in made hole or natural cavity of stump or tree, usually at lower levels. 
Eggs, 5-8, white, marked sparingly with reddish brown, in small spots, tending to 
gather about larger end. Average size, .58 x .47 (14.7 X 11.9). 
General Range.—Eastern North America north of the Potomac and Ohio 
Valleys. Not strictly migratory, but roving irregularly south along southern 
boundary of range. 
Range in Ohio—Common in northern and sub-northern Ohio. Southern 
extension not yet clearly defined. “Abundant resident in northern and probably 
eastern Ohio. Not common winter visitor in central and southern Ohio” 
(Wheaton ). 
BY a subtle instinct every one connects the Chickadee with winter. 
Springtime gaity is a cheap thing and is rated accordingly. Who could help 
being cheerful when the forests are heaving with blossom, and a thousand 
sweet odors are filling the nostrils? But here is a bird that loves to hear the 
north wind go JI’00-00-00, and whose good cheer is brought to its fullest per- 
fection only by the teasing of the frost. If you have wandered out into the 
leafless woods to mourn for the departed joys of summer or to sigh for, the 
return of spring, this little fellow hastens down from the tree-tops to com- 
fort you, and to ery Chick-a-dee, Chick-a-dee-dee-dee. ‘The beady little eyes 
sparkle all the while with merriment, and there is no such thing as sadness 
possible after a visit from the Titmouse troupe. 
