THE NIDOLOGIST 97 
Nesting of the Long-tailed Chickadee 
N THE vicinity of Weco, Mclennan 
county, Texas, this western variety of 
Parus atricapillus is the prevailing form 
of Chickadee. Although common through- 
out the year, these little Chickadees are 
most noticeably abundant during the 
summer months, as they then form ip 
troops of from four to a dozen or more 
birds. One would judge these little troops 
to be family groups, so happy and con- 
tented do the little fellows seem as they fly 
from tree to tree, merrily whistling their 
‘‘chick-a-dee-de,’’ and searching amongst 
the twigs and branches for their insect 
food; now on one side of a limb, now on the 
other, first on one branch, then on another. 
‘Two other forms of Titmice occur with 
us, i. e., the Tufted Tit (Parus bicolor) and 
the Plumbeous Chickadee (Parus carolen- 
ensis agilis), but the first is not at all 
common, while the last is quite rare. 
During the period of reproduction, the 
Long-tailed Chickadee is rather partial to 
the bottomlands which border the river, 
but at other seasons the birds are every- 
where abundant, numbers being observed 
daily in yards and parks of the city. 
These birds breed quite early in the sea- 
son, their nests usually being found in the 
course of construction throughout the 
month of March. 
The latest record was an uncompleted 
nest discovered on April 7, 1894, by Mr. 
Pearre and myself. ‘The birds were present 
and were constructing the nest of a mass of 
cottony plant fibres, in a hole in an old 
stub. We did not revisit this nest, in fact 
would have forgotton that we had discov- 
ered it, if I had not come across the refer- 
ence in my notebook. 
Nearly all sets taken after the 30th of 
March are in an advanced stage of incuba- 
tion. The nests are usually built in small 
holes in the posts of division fences in 
moderately wooded tracts, in dead stubs, 
and in. some cases, in deserted holes of 
small Dryobates in dead trees. A small 
series of eggs collected during the first 
week of April, from nests previously 
located, contained embryos in various 
stages, and the number to aset was usually 
four, rarely five or six. All sets had been 
allowed to advance to such an extent as to 
remove all doubts as to their completeness. 
I am inclined to believe, from my observa- 
tions, though somewhat limited, that four 
is the more common number composing a 
set of the eggs of this Chickadee, in this 
section of the country. Several complete 
sets of four were taken by a friend during 
the spring of 1894. This seems to be an 
unusually small number to compose a full 
set of the eggs of any variety of the Black- 
capped Chickadee. Referring to several 
authorities, I find that the number given 
as a full set of the typical atricapillus, and 
its two varieties, septentrzonalis (the Long- 
tailed form) and occidentalis (the Oregon 
Chickadee) , ranges from five to eight. 
The eggs of the Long-tailed Chickadee 
are white, and are very evenly covered 
with reddish-brown speckles. The only 
difference between the eggs of the Long- 
tailed and typical Black-capped Chickadees 
that I can detect is, that in the first variety, 
the eggs are most evenly speckled asa rule, 
while in the latter the markings are more 
commonly concentrated at the larger end. 
This difference might not be apparent when 
a large series is compared, however, but I 
have not had the opportunity of making 
such a comparison. About twenty speci- 
mens of the eggs of the Long-tailed Chick- 
adee average slightly larger than those of 
typical airicapillus. 
This Chickadee is a close sitter, and the 
collector is frequently obliged to lift the 
bird from the eggs. The nests are usually 
built with the rims about an inch or two 
below the bottom of the opening into the 
nesting-place. 
During the winter months this species 
may often be found haunting the same 
localities and associating with Brown 
Creepers, Carolina Wrens, Southern Downy 
Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens mert- 
dionalis) and other small woodland birds. 
Joun K. STRECKER, JR. 
Waco, Texas. 
+o 
Death of Arthur L. Pope. 
Arthur Lamson Pope died at his home 
near Salem, Oregon, February 28, after a 
three months’ illness. 
Mr. Pope had for a long time been an 
enthusiastic Ornithologist, and was deeply 
interested in the study of bird-life in the 
Northwest. 
Through his efforts the Northwest Orni- 
thological Association was organized, and 
he was elected as its first president; he was 
actively associated in the work up to the 
time of his illness. 
