OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 313 



Subfamily PARING. Titmice. 



Genus PARUS Linnaeus. 



Subgenus PARUS Linn^us. 



291. PARUS ATRICAPILLUS (Linn.). 7H5. 



Chickadee. 



Above brownish-ash ; crown and nape, chin and throat blaclc ; beneath 

 white, brownish on sides ; wing and tail-feathers more or less whitish edged. 

 Length, 5 ; wing and tail, 2^. 



Hab. Eastern North America, north of the Potomac and Ohio Valleys. 



Nest, a hole appropriated or dug by the birds in a dead tree or stump, 

 not usually very high up ; lined with hair, grass, moss, wool, feathers, etc. 



Eggs, 6 to 8 ; white, speckled and spotted with reddish-brown, chiefly 

 toward the larger end. 



In Southern Ontario the Chickadee is one of our most 

 familiar resident birds. During the breeding season it retires 

 to the woods, but at other times it is seen in Httle troops visiting 

 the shade trees and orchards in the city, searching the crevices 

 for insects, and uttering its famihar chickadee, dee, dee, so well 

 known to all the boys. It has also another note, or rather two 

 notes, one quite high which drops suddenly to one much lower, 

 soft and prolonged, and probably both convey a meaning to 

 the ears for which they are intended. During the severity of 

 winter they are most frequently seen in tamarack swamps, 

 where they, no doubt, find both food and shelter. 



292. PARUS HUDSONICUS (Forst.). 740. 



Hudsonian Chickadee. 



Crown, nape and upper parts generally clear hair brown or ashy-brown, 

 with a slight shade of olive, the coloration quite the same on back and crown, 

 and continuous, not being separated by any whitish nuchal interval ; throat 

 quite black, in restricted area, not extending backward on sides of neck, sep- 

 arated from the brown crown by silky white on side of the head, this white 

 not reaching back of the auriculars to the sides of the nape ; sides, flanks and 

 under tail-coverts washed with dull chestnut or rusty-brown ; other under 

 parts whitish ; quills and tail-feathers lead color, as in other Titmice, scarcely 

 or slightly edged with whitish ; little or no concealed white on the rump ; 

 bill black ; feet dark. Size of P. atricapillus or rather less. 



