Old World Titmice 



749 





black throat is the Carolina Chickadee (P. carolinensis) of the southeastern 

 United States. It has somewhat lower, more plaintive notes, but otherwise 

 the habits are essentially similar to those of its more northern relative. There 

 are two other species in which the head and throat are black, the Mountain 

 Chickadee (P. gambeli) of the mountains of the western United States, and the 

 Mexican Chickadee (P. meridionalis] of the highlands of Mexico, the first having, 

 and the second lacking, a white superciliary stripe. 



With the top of the head brownish and the back hair-brown or grayish brown 

 is the Hudsonian Chickadee (P. hudsonicus] of the western half of British 

 America. It is even tamer and more unsuspicious than the one first mentioned, 

 and has quite different notes, but otherwise the habits are practically identical; 

 it is represented by slight geographical races in eastern Canada and northern 

 New England, Labrador, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. Also belonging 

 to this brown-headed group 

 is the Chestnut-backed 

 Chickadee (P. rufescens) 

 of the Pacific coast from 

 Oregon to Alaska; it is 

 similar to the last as regards 

 habits and appearance ex- 

 cept for the chestnut- 

 colored back and smaller 

 size. 



Old World Titmice. - 

 Passing over the crested 

 Titmice for the moment, we 

 may note some of the Old 

 World representatives of 

 this vast genus, beginning 

 with a group in which the principal colors are black and yellow, with blue or white 

 showing more or less conspicuously in the plumage. Of these the Great Tit- 

 mouse, or Oxeye (P. major}, is a familiar bird throughout Europe generally, 

 being olive-green above with the head, throat, and a broad breast band of glossy 

 black, while the cheeks and a spot on the nape are white and the breast and 

 abdomen yellow. Mr. Dresser says it is a lively and active bird, frequenting 

 "gardens, orchards, and woods, feeding chiefly on insects and their larvae, to 

 some extent also on seeds, and will attack and kill small and weakly birds, 

 open their skulls and devour the brain. In winter they collect in small family 

 parties and rove about the country. The nest is placed in the hole of a tree or 

 wall, or any similar suitable place, and is usually bulky, consisting of a founda- 

 tion of dry moss or grass on which is a soft bed of hair, wool, or feathers, and 

 the eggs, which are generally deposited in April, vary from six to ten in number, 

 and are white, spotted and blotched with reddish." To the eastward this gives 

 place to the smaller Japanese Titmouse (P. minor), which has the under parts 

 white with a creamy tinge. 



FIG. 211. Great Titmouse, Parus major. 



