BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 319 



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Common resident; found in all localities, but during- the summer 

 these birds are usually seen in woods and thickets, from which in win- 

 ter they often come about houses, or, in small flocks, frequent weedy 

 places in fields and swamps in search of food. The common name arises 

 from their familiar note of chick-a-dee-dee. These birds sometimes nest 

 in natural cavities, but frequently, woodpecker-like, they excavate holes 

 in trees, stumps, etc., in which they build a nest of hair, feathers, mosses, 

 fine dried grasses or other soft materials. The egg's, mostly six or seven, 

 sometimes more, are white, spotted or dotted, chiefly about the larger 

 end, with reddish-brown ; measure about .60 long- by .50 wide. Audubon 

 writing of the Black-cap says : They lay their egg's in the hole deserted 

 by some small woodpecker. "As it has been my fortune to witness a 

 pair at this work, I will here state what occurred, notwithstanding 1 the 

 opinion of those who informed us that the bill of a titmouse is ' not 

 shaped for digging 1 .' While seated one morning- under a crab-apple 

 tree, I saw two Black-cap Titmice fluttering- about in great concern, as 

 if anxious to see me depart. By their manners, I was induced to be- 

 lieve that their nest was near, and anxious to observe their proceedings, 

 I removed to a distance of about twenty paces. The birds now became 

 silent, alighted on the apple-tree gradually moved towards the base of 

 one of its large branches, and one of them disappeared in what I then 

 supposed to be the hole of some small woodpecker ; but I saw it pres- 

 ently on the edge, with a small chip in its bill, and again cautiously ap- 

 proached the tree. When three or four yards off I distinctly heard the 

 pecking-s or taps of the industrious worker within, and saw it come to 

 the mouth of the hole and return many times in succession in the course 

 of half an hour, after which I got up and examined the mansion. The 

 hole was about three inches deep, and dug- obliquely downward from 

 the aperture, which was just large enough to admit the bird. I had 

 observed both sexes at this labor." The Chickadee feeds on different 

 forms of insect life and the seeds of various weeds, grasses and other 

 plants. Crumbs of bread, pieces of meat, fragments of apples, pears 

 and other fruits are also eaten. 



Parus carolinensis AUD. 



Carolina Chickadee. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about 4 inches ; extent about 7. Similar to atricapillus but averaging 

 smaller: the wing and tail dimensions in atricapillus average about the same, but 

 in carolinensis the tail is a little shorter than the wing. The wings (tertials and 

 greater coverts) lack the distinct white, so well marked in atricapillus. 



Habitat. " Eastern United States, chiefly south of 40, west to Missouri, Indian 

 Territory and eastern Texas. Ridgway. 



The Carolina Chickadee, a southern species, has been found as an oc- 



