378 BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE. 
If these fHocks do not migrate, their union is soon destroyed, for when 
the Black-cap Titmice again appear, itis in small flocks; their former 
restlessness is gone, and they now exhibit their wonted care and de- 
liberation in searching for food.” 
The nest of this species, whether it be placed in the hole of a Wood- 
pecker or Squirrel, or ina place dug by itself, is seldom found at a height 
exceeding ten feet. Most of those which I have seen were in low 
broken or hollowed stumps only a few feet high. The materials of 
which it is composed vary in different districts, but are generally the 
hair of quadrupeds, in a considerable quantity, and disposed in the 
shape of a loose bag or purse, as in most other species which do 
not hang their nest§ outside. Some persons have said that they lay 
their eggs on the bare wood, or on the chips left by Woodpeckers ; but 
this is not the case, in so far as I have examined them ; and in this my 
observations are confirmed by those of Dr Brewer of Boston and Mr 
M‘Cutxocu of Pictou, who also have inspected nests of this species. 
The eggs rarely exceed eight in number; they measure five-eighths of 
an inch in length, by three-eighths and three-quarters, are rather point- 
ed at the smaller end, white, slightly sprinkled with minute dots and 
markings of light reddish. Those of the first brood are deposited from 
the middle of April to that of May; for the second about two months 
later. The parents I have thought generally move along with the young 
of the second brood. 
Dr Brewer says, ‘on the 20th of June, I found in a single Tit- 
mouse’s hole a mass of the hair of the Common Skunk and moss large 
enough to weigh two or more ounces, and sufficient to construct a nest © 
for some of our larger birds, such for instance as Wilson’s Thrush.” 
Mr M‘Cuttoca found a nest of this bird placed about two feet 
from the ground in a small stump, which seemed to have been exca- 
vated by the birds themselves. It contained six young, and was lined 
entirely with the hair which cattle, in rubbing themselves, had left 
upon the stump. 
The flight of this species, like that of all our American Titmice, is 
short, fluttering, generally only from tree to tree, and is accompanied 
with a murmuring sound produced by the concavity of the wings. It 
is seldom seen on the ground, unless when it has followed a fruit that 
has fallen, or when searching for materials for its nest. It usually 
