BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



505 



insects injurious to trees which are destroyed during his scrutiny of the 

 orchards or forests. 



The nest is commonly placed in small cavities of dead trees within 

 a few feet of the ground, sometimes 15 or 20 feet up. On many occasions 

 I have seen the chickadees excavating their own holes in dead birch stubs 

 or other soft wood. The entrance is about 1 inch in diameter and the 

 cavity usually about 6 or 8 inches in depth. The nesting materials are 

 soft grasses, mosses, cottony down from ferns and other plants, and feathers. 



Chickadee feeding young 



Photo by L. S. Horton 



The eggs are 5 to 8 in number, white in ground color spotted with reddish 

 brown, with a tendency to form a wreath near the larger end of the egg, 

 which is broadly ovate, almost spherical at times, in outline. They 

 average .60 by .47 inches in dimensions. Both birds labor not only in the 

 construction of the nest, but in incubating the eggs and caring for the young. 

 Building operations in western New York begin from the 18th of April 

 to the 10th of May, and fresh eggs are usually found between the 12th and 

 26th of May, frequently as late as the 20th of June, although I am inclined 

 to think that rarely more than one brood h reared in a season. 



