2-lS CHICKADEE. 



Titmice and Nuthatches. (Family Parid.e.) 



Comparing tlie Titmice witli the Nutliatclies, the 

 former may be described as short-billed birds with long 

 tails who do not creep, the latter as long-billed birds 

 with short tails who do creep. The two groups are, in 

 fact, quite distinct, and by some systematists are placed 

 in separate families. 



The Titmice number some seventy-five species, four 



of which are found in eastern North America. The 



Chickadee commonest and most generall)- distril)- 



rarvn afriaq-'iiius. uted is the Black-capped Chickadee, 



Plate LXX. which is found from Labrador to ]\Iary- 



land and in the Alleglianies southward to ISTorth Carolina. 

 Farther south it is replaced by the closely allied Carolina 

 Chickadee. 



Throughout the greater part of its range the Chickadee 

 is found at all seasons, l)ut it is less common in the middle 

 and sontliern New England States in summer than in win- 

 ter, and is most numerous during its migration in October. 



It is with winter that these merry little black and 

 white midgets are generally associated. Their tameness, 

 quaint notes, and friendly ways make them unusually com- 

 panionable l>irds ; one need not lack for society ■when 

 Chickadees are to be found. Many of their notes are 

 especially conversational in character, and in addition to 

 the familiar cihu'lictdee call, they ha\-e a high, sweet, 

 plaintive two- or three-noted whistle. 



The Chickadee nests about the middle of May, select- 

 ing some suitable cavity or making one for himself in a 

 decayed trunk or limb and lining it with moss, plant- 

 down, and feathei'S. The eggs, five to eight in nnmlier, 

 are white, spotted and speckled, chiefly at the larger end, 

 with cinnamon or reddish brown. 



