DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 351 



Nest: In an old woodpecker hole or natural cavity, 2J to 17 feet from 



the ground ; lined with cattle hair, fur, or wool. 

 Eggs ; 5 to 9 ; white, sometimes spotted with rusty around the larger 



end. Size 0.60 X 0.41. 



" It was a cheery chiclc-a-dee-dee that gave me my first 

 introduction to this vivacious bird in the sierra, and 

 when I later discovered a nest hidden securely in an old 

 pine stub deep in the forest, I could not resist the 

 impression that here indeed was contentment. Here, 

 far from the habitations of man, and beside an aban- 

 doned trail which had long since ceased to re-echo human 

 footsteps, had settled a pair of Mountain Chickadees. 

 No matter how fared their neighbors, and with no 

 time to gossip with the shy warblers of their domain, 

 these little birds seemed unconscious of all else save 

 their piny mansion. 



"True, they were not fastidious, and had taken up 

 housekeeping in old quarters ; and their particular stub, 

 with its deep-creased bark and rotten foundation, did 

 not differ from a thousand other stubs which dotted the 

 forest. But this stump, still capped by the winter's 

 snow, was destined to become the arena of intense 

 activity with the advent of spring. 



"My first nest was found on June 11, 1898, as Mr. 

 L. E. Taylor and I were walking along the stage road. 

 An old spruce stub, about three feet high and nine 

 inches through, stood near the road, and a two-inch hole 

 in its top led down into the darkness. On scraping the 

 stub a series of hisses came forth denoting young. We 

 tore open one side of the stub and beheld a nest of nine 

 young Chickadees ready to fly. They scrambled up the 



