f.l 



390 



NUTHATCHES AND TITS. 



ii 



I , I 



§ 



i 



735. Parus atricapiUus {/Jnn.). CmcKAnEE. (See Fig. 57, 6.) 

 Ad.~T(>\^ oftht) licail, iiiipc, iiiitl tlinmt xliiniii;,' hliick ; hiiIcs of the head and 

 neck wliite; back asliy ; outer vaiie.s of ^Teater wiiitr-eoverts di^*tilH'tly iiuir- 

 gined witli white ; wing and tuil-featliers iiiargiiied witli whitisli ; breast 

 white; belly and hides washed with ereain-butt. L., 5-27 ; W., 2-53; T., 2-43; 

 IJ., -37. 



7t'a«f/#.— Eastern North America; breeds from southern IHinoisand Penn- 

 sylvania northward to Labrador, and soutliward along tlie Alleghanies to 

 North Carolina; in winter migrates a short dititanee Ijelow the southern limit 

 of its breeding range. 



Washington, rare and irregular W. V., Dec. to Apl. 15. Sing Sing, toler- 

 ably common 1'. K. Cambridge, very common 1'. K., more numerous in fall 

 and winter. 



JVe«t, of mos.s, gra-i^ses, feathers, and i>bint down, in old stumps, holes in 

 trees, etc., not more than tiftce!i feet up. /.V/y,v, five to i^igl't, white, spotted 

 and speckled, chielly ut the larger end, witii cinnumou- or rufous-brown, 

 •CO X -48. 



When most birds were strangers to me, I remember thinking what 

 ft blessing it would be if every one spoke his name as plainly as docs 

 this animated bunch of black and white feathers. No need of a text- 

 book to discover his name : with winning confidence he introduced 

 himself, and probably for this reason he has alw lys been my best 

 friend amoniir birds. I never :^ .^ "^ .m. .^. 



hear his voice in the woods C — I ^'1 ^^ F— t^— — ^^^ —^ 



without answering him: r i |. n 



Sooti he comes to me, mildly inquisitive at first, looking about f(jr the 

 friend or foe whose call has attracted him. In an unconcerned way 

 he hops from limb to limb, whistling softly the while, picking an in- 

 sect's cfffi; from beneath a leaf liere or larva from a crevice in the bark 

 there, all the time performing acrobatic feats of which an accom- 

 plished gymnast might be proud. Finally his cnriosity becomes 

 aroused, he ceases feeding, ard gives his entire attention to the dis- 

 covery of the bird who so regularly re[)lies to him. Hopping down to 

 a limb within three feet of my head, he regards tne with j)uzzlcd in- 

 tentness; his little black eyes twinkle with intelligence, he changes 

 his call, and fpicstions me with a series of rhirk-Ci-di'i's, lifjuid gurgles, 

 and odd chuckling notes which it is beyond my power to answer, and 

 fimilly, becoming diseonraged, he refuses to renew our whistled ccn- 

 versation and retreats to the woods. 



On two occasions Chickadees have flown down and perehtd npon 

 my hand. During the few seconds they remained there I became rigid 

 with the emotion of this novel experience. It was a mark of con- 

 fidence which seemed to initiate me into the ranks of woodland 

 dwellers. 



