PARID.E — THE TITMICK. 



99 



their penetrating bill, and no eggs so well hidden tliat they cannot find them 

 out. L liave known one to attack and Hy off with the chrysalis of a " Woolly- 

 bear" or salt-marsh cater])illar {Leucardia acrcvu). When thus t'oragiu" Ibr 

 their food tiiey seem totally unconscious of the near presence of man, and 

 unmindful of what is passing around tlieni, so intent are they upon the 

 object of their pursuit. 



The notes of the Chickadee exhibit a great variety of sounds and combi- 

 nations. As they roam through the country in small flocks in quest of food, 

 their refrain is a continued and lively succession of varying notes sounding 

 like a quaint chant. When annoyed by any intrusion, their cry is louder 

 and harsher. They are rarely thus disturbed l)y the presence of man, and 

 even when their nest is approached by him they present only a passive and 

 silent resistance. Not so when a cat or a squirrel is observed in unwelcome 

 vicinity. These are pursued with great and noisy pertinacity and hoarse 

 cries of dan, f%. day, in which they are often joined by others of the same 

 species. 



So far as we have observed them, they are apparently affectionate, gentle, 

 and loving to each other. We utterly discredit the accusation that they 

 will treaclierously beat out the brains of feeble birds of their own race. It 

 is unsupixirted by testimony, and in the instance cited by AVilson he gives 

 no evidence that this injury may not 1^1 ve been done by some other species, 

 and not by one of its own kindred. 



Tlieir nest is usually near the ground, and the number of eggs rarely 

 if ever exceeds eight. They are said to have two broods in the season, 

 but tliis statement seems to be contradicted by their continued presence 

 after Jiuie in small flocks, evidently the parents and their first and only 

 brood, who apparently remain togetiier nine or ten months. 



The eggs of this species vary somewiiat in regard to the distribution and 

 number of the reddish-brown markings with which their white -n-ound is 

 more or less sprinkled. In some they are chiefly gathered in a ring about 

 the larger end ; in others they are distributed over the entire e^.- ° Tiieir 

 eggs are smaller and a little less si)herical in shape than those of the septm- 

 tnonalis, averaging .58 by .47 of an inch. 



Parus atricapUlus, var. septentrionalis, Hauius. 



LONO-TAILED CHICKADEE. 



Panu^scplcnlrmutli., H,uuas, P,-. A. N. S... 11, 184.5. ano.-r.ss,^. iii„,t. I, 1853. 17. 



T: ' 7. 1, ' ""''' ^"^'^ '""• ''''• ''" ' ^^'^'''■■' '»■ - S^^'-ATKK. Catal. 18U1 



14 no. 82. Panis sepkntrhnalu, var. albcsce,,.-,, IJai.i.. Birds N. Am. 1858, xxxvii 

 ? Parus atncapUliM, I'n. Max. fab. Jour. VI. 1858, 1 i). 



Sp. C,ur. Length abont S.M inche,,; wing, 2.70; tail aho.* .T inches. Head nbove 

 and below black, separated by white on the .sides ..f the head; baok browni.sh-ash. Be- 



