THE NIDIOLOGIST 



17 



branches that left the main limb at this point 

 and nearly encircled the nest. In trying to re- 

 move the rather loosely constructed affair it was 

 utterly ruined, only the flat materials remain- 

 ing. These were thin, dry strips of the inner 

 bark of the willow for the main nest, with a few 

 feathers and deerhair for a lining. In shape it 

 was quite deep and purselike, the greater part 

 hanging below the supporting twigs. 



San Diego, Cai. A. W. Anthony. 



William L. Kells. 



WE here present to our readers a photo- 

 graph of William L. Kells, of Listowel, 

 Ontario, taken in the woods with his 

 dog " Sailor." The many Ornithologists who 

 have read Mr. Kells's accurate and charming 

 descriptions of bird life, or received rare eggs 

 of his collecting for their cabinets, will look 

 upon this picture with great interest. 



What can be more charming than that old 

 straw hat ! Simplicity in a world of woodsy 

 odors, of bird songs, and rustling leaves. All 

 this is so in keeping with the grandeur of 

 Mother Earth, in whose rugged kindliness ])re- 

 tense and frivolity were ever such a mockery. 



Give^me but Nature at her best, 

 I am content to lose the rest ! 



H. R. r. 



Notes on the Black=Capped 

 Titmouse. 



THERE is no bird with which I am ac- 

 quainted that changes its habits and 

 its mode of life according to the sea- 

 son so completely as this littfe bird, which in 

 this locality is commonly called " Chickadee," 

 though it is sometimes known as Blackcap 

 and as " Black-headed Snowbird." In winter 

 it is the most common of all New England 

 birds. It is gregarious, living in flocks some- 

 times numbering one hundred or more, but 

 generally numbering about twenty. It is very 

 tame, frequently entering houses, and some- 

 times alighting on a person. Its principal 

 food seems to be such small seeds as it can 

 pick up around barns, but it greatly prefers 

 crumbs from the table, and in search of these 

 it will fearlessly hop to one's feet. 



In the April (1894) number of the Nidiolo- 

 GiST, " S. Bob White speaks of the habit which 

 the Pine Siskin has of eating snow ; " and in the 

 May number Glover M. Allen mentions the 

 same habit as observed in the Cedar Bird. I 

 have often watched the Chickadee as it would 

 crush small lumps of snow in its bill, and, 

 allowing it to melt, would swallow the water 



with evident relish; and I believe that all birds, 

 when by reason of the snow they are unable to 

 get water, are accustomed to quench their 

 thirst in this manner. I have observed the 

 same habit in the Robin, the Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker, the English Sparrow, and I think in the 

 Crow, but in the latter case the distance was 

 so great that I was unable to determine with 

 absolute certainty. 



But to return to the Chickadee. Early in 

 the spring it mates, and as soon as the trees 



WILLIAM L. KELLS. 



put forth their leaves it retires to the thick 

 woods, where it becomes one of the very shy- 

 est of birds, and though abundant, it requires 

 close observation to discover one. Except 

 during its short, quick flight from one tree to 

 another, it is continually in the trees, and gen- 

 erally among the branches. It can climb a 

 tree with even greater facility than the Wood- 

 pecker, and to a remarkable degree it pos- 

 sesses the faculty of being always on the oppo- 

 site side of the tree. It now feeds exclusively 

 upon insects and worms which it finds upon 

 the bark and leaves of trees. It never catches 

 insects while on the wing. Professor Cook, in 

 Birds of Michigan, quoting from Dr. Atkins, 

 says that they "eat tent caterpillars exten- 

 sively." I think the Doctormust be mistaken, but 



