230 APPENDIX TO OSCIXES. 



finally clisappearing in October. It is a fine songster ; and its lively, animated strains, 

 of canary-like sweetness and clearness, may be heard at all hours of the day, in the 

 cool, damp woods, near the upper limit of tree-growth. The female sings at times, 

 and nearly as loudly and sweetly as the male. JR. salrapa I have not seen in these 

 mountains. 



[To the synonyms of this species add : CorthnJio calendula, Cab., J, f. 0. i, 1853, 83 

 (type of the geuiis), and Si/lvia (Eegidoidea) calendula. Gray, Hand-list, i, 1669, 216, No. 

 3de8.— E. C] 



[The tirst nest of Regulus calendula which lias reached naturalists was taken by Mr. J. 

 H. Batty, iu Colorado, July 21, I'^TS. It was placed on a spnice-bough, about 13 feet 

 from the ground, and contained five young and one egg. The nest is astouisbiugly 

 large for the bird ; I am not sure that its shape is preserved accurately, but the whole 

 could scarcely be got in the largest coftee-cup. It is composed of an inextricably but 

 loosely-woven mass of feathers and hair, mixed with short bits of straws and a little 

 moss. — E.G.] 



Parus atricapillus var. SEPTEXTurrixAUS, Long-tailed Titmouie. Common; resident; 

 breeds. Precisely similar in habits, notes, and actions, to the typical P. atricapilliis. 

 This species does not range as high as the Mountain Titmouse, rarely veuturiug beyond 

 y,(JOO feet, while its usual rauge is from the plains up to about .~,0(jO feet. 



P. -MOXTAxrs, Mountain Titmouse. Abundant ; breeding from about 8,000 feet up to 

 timber-line. In winter it descends nearly to the plains, but may be found, in the 

 most inclement weather, nearly or quite up to timber-line. Xut distinguishable from 

 the former in its notes aud habits. 



SiTTA CAiiOLiXEXSis var. ACULEATA, Slender-hiUcd Xuthatch. This species arrives at 

 Idaho about the 1st of April, and gradually extends ujjward, breeding from about 8,000 

 or 8,500 feet, up to timber-line. It is not very common, but by no means rare. In its 

 motions and habits it is the exact counterpart of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but 

 its notes are quite diftereiit. The common, piping note is nearly the saaie, though in 

 a dilferent key; but the loud spring-call is very different. It is far coarser, louder, 

 and more rapid in aculeata — so loud and rattling in fact, that I have mistaken it for the 

 caU of the Red-shafted Flicker — while there is none of the soft, musical tone that 

 marks the spring-note of .S'. carolinensis. The notes, in fact, are almost as widely apart 

 as those of Sturnella magna and fi. neglecta, aud one unacquainted with the bird would 

 never suspect its relationship on first hearing its call. In October it retires toward 

 the foot-hills, where it may be found all winter. 



S. PYi'.M.EA. Pijgmi/ Xuthatch. Abundant and resident ; breeding from about 6,000 

 feet up to 8,500 or 9,000. .Scarcely migratory, remaining iu nearly the same localities 

 throughout the year. The Pyguiy Nuthatch is a delicate little fellow, with more of 

 the habits and voice of .S. canadensis than of the white-breasted species ; a similarity 

 carried out by the coloration of the tail, and their half-warbler-like movements at 

 times. They are very active, and incessantly on the move, creeping over the trunks 

 aud limbs of the pines, aud tapping vigorously here and there, like a Woodpecker, and 

 far louder than the other Nuthatches do. Very social, it is fond of gathering in flocks 

 with the iloantain Titmouse, whose habits lead it into similar places, and in whose 

 society it roams through the woods in busy, twittering groups, exploring every decayed 

 limb and fallen trunk, peering with sharp eyes into each crack and cranny that might 

 form the lurking place of its insect food, and examining the pine and fir cones for the 

 same purpose, hauging from them in all passible positions, precisely like a Pine 

 Finch. Like the Canada Nuthatch, they will chase and capture an insect on the 

 wing; and freciueutly descend to the ground, alighting, warbler-like, on low bushes, 

 and then flitting back to the pine boughs. Their notes are various; a sort of shrill 

 piping, like that of the red-breasted species; a deep-toned variation of the same note, 

 uttered only iu spring ; and a twittering note, uttered at times while feeding together, 

 and u.sed as a rallying or warning cry, and when about to take wing. 



Gekthia familiaris, Brou-n Creeper. Abundant during the winter, from 7,000 feet 

 up to 9,000 fe<t, and probably ranging considerably higher and lower. Breeds spar- 

 ingly in the upper woods, within a few hundred feet of timber-line. Appears at Idaho 

 late iu the fall, and becomes very common as soon as the weather becomes cold, great 

 numbers coming in fifom other regions. Similar in all respects to the eastern bird. 



[Add to the synonyms of this spe?ies : Certhia fusca, Bart., Fra,:,'. Nat. Hist. Pa. 

 1799. If the American bird is to be distinguished, it is to be called V. familiaris var. 

 /«sea.— E. C] 



S AT.PIXCTES OBSOLETES, i?oc7.- TTcpH. Abundant; migratory; breeds. The Rock Wren 

 arrives at Idaho about the 'JOth of May, and extends its rauge up to, and a little above, 

 timber-line. It breeds most abundantly between 6,500 and 9,500 feet, rarely nesting 

 hifher that the latter elevation, though found during summer from 12,000 feet down 

 to the plains. It is a constant re!>ideut of the piles of loose rock which lie scattered 

 on the monntainsides, in which it finds its food and rears its young, and to which it 

 retreats for safety on being alarmed. On its first arrival it is rather shy, but soon 

 becomes tame and oven familiar, haunting piles of boulders and small stones in the 



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