756 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
Distribution.—South Atlantic and Gulf States, north to southern Mary- 
land and (casually) Ohio, Missouri, ete. 
This bird must be considered as purely accidental in Michigan. The 
only actual record (and that not free from question) is that published by 
Dr. H. A. Atkins (Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 9, 1884, p. 81), which 
reads: ‘Taken May 12, 1875 [at Locke, Ingham county, Mich.] This 
bird was sent in the flesh to W. H. Collins of Detroit to be mounted, but 
on account of the warm weather it spoiled before reaching him.” This 
record doubtless forms the basis for Ridgway’s statement (Manual of 
N. Am. Birds, 1887, p. 560). ‘North regularly to lower Maryland and 
Virginia, casually to Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, ete.” 
Without questioning the general accuracy of Dr. Atkins’ observations, 
it may still be said that there is a large amount of individual variation in 
the Red-bellied Nuthatch, and immature birds, particularly females, 
often show irregular patches of white here and there about the head, while 
the typical glossy black cap, with the sharp superciliary white line, is 
found only in old and full-plumaged males. A slightly abnormal young 
specimen of Sitta canadensis might have been mistaken for Sitta pusilla 
by even so good a naturalist as Dr. Atkins. Nevertheless it must be 
remembered that several other species which normally are found only 
in the south have been taken occasionally in northern. Indiana and Ohio, 
southern Michigan, and western Ontario. The recent capture of the 
Chuck-wills-widow at Point Pelee, Ontario, less than 30 miles southeast 
of Detroit is a case in point (Fleming, Auk, XXIII, 1906, 343). 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
“ Above plain bluish-gray, the top of head (down to eyes and ear-coverts) brown, bordered 
below by a darker loral and postocular stripe; no superciliary stripe. 
“Adult: Nape with a conspicuous white spot; tail-feathers (except middle pair) tipped 
with white, the subterminal portion black; the middle tail-feathers without distinct basal 
spot of white. Sexes alike. Young; Top of head grayish, the wing-coverts and tertials 
edged with light fulvous” (Ridgway). 
Length 3.86 to 4.40 inches; wing about 2.60; culmen .50 to .60. 
Long-tailed Chickadee. Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis (/arris). 
(735a) 
Synonym: Western Chickadee. 
The Long-tailed Chickadee belongs to the Rocky Mountain region of 
North America, extending eastward nearly across the Plains, but not 
recorded (officially) east of Iowa and western Minnesota. 
According to Ridgway it is similar to the common Chickadee “but larger, 
with wings and tail averaging decidedly longer; coloration paler, with the 
whitish edgings of the greater wing-coverts, secondaries and lateral rectrices 
broader and more conspicuous.” 
This bird has been recorded for Michigan only by Dr. H. A. Atkins 
of Locke, Ingham county, who states that he took a specimen at Locke 
May 29, 1874, and another specimen a little later. He says: ‘The tail 
was a trifle less than three inches, the size of the tarsus and foot excessively 
large for so small a bird’ (O. & O., Vol. 19, 1884, p. 81). Apparently 
the specimens taken by Dr. Atkins were not preserved, and in their absence 
we do not feel justified in giving this bird a place in our fauna. Kumlien 
and Hollister include this sub-species in their list of Wisconsin birds, 
stating that ‘in late fall and winter typical specimens are taken in 
