Familv Paridce Chickadee 5 1 



FAMILY PARIDCE 



9. CHICKADEE; BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE 



(Par us atricapillus.} 



Upper parts ashy : under parts rusty white ; crown, nape, and 

 throat black ; cheeks white ; quills of wings and tail white- 

 edged. Beak and feet small, black. Bird rather less than two- 

 thirds the size of a sparrow. Sexes similar. 



THESE confiding and sociable little birds spend 

 the entire year with us, but are most abundant in 

 the winter, when the residents are re-enforced by 

 others who have come from the north. As they are 

 also less shy at this season, it furnishes by far the 

 best time for studying them. I have found them 

 most abundant among hemlocks, where they cling, 

 often head downward, to the branches, picking out 

 small insects which have lodged in cones and other 

 parts of the tree. Minot speaks of finding them 

 especially among pines and white birches. On hard 

 wood trees they not infrequently cling to the trunks, 

 and climb along the under side of large horizontal 

 boughs somewhat after the fashion of creepers. 

 They can readily be attracted to the window by 

 cracked hickory nuts placed on the sill. They usu- 

 ally move in small companies, and are extremely 

 sociable, not only among themselves, but with other 



