484 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



bt Kansas, begins laying early in April. The nest is constructed in deserted Wood- 

 pecker holes, natural cavities in trees, decayed stumps,, hollow fence posts, etc. 

 These places are .filled with a mass of leaves, moss, dry grasses and warmly lined 

 with downy feathers, hair from cattle, and often of the fur of the smaller, quadrupeds. 

 The eggs are five to eight in number, white, speckled all over, but most thickly at or 

 around the larger ends with light reddish-brown. The average size- is .57X.47. Of 

 this species Wilson says: "They traverse the woods in regular progression from 

 tree to tree, tumbling, chattering and hanging from the extremities of the branches, 

 examining about the roots of the leaves, buds, and crevices of the bark for insects and 

 their larvae. They also frequently visit the orchards, particularly in fall, the sides 

 of the bam and barn-yard in the same pursuit, trees in such situations being gen- 

 erally much infested with insects. We, therefore, with pleasure, rank this little bird 

 among the farmers' friends, and trust our rural citizens will always recognize him 

 as such."* 



735a. LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE. Parus atricapillus septentrionalis 

 (Harris.) Geog. Dist. — Rocky Mountain district (New Mexico to Alaska), west to the 

 edge of the Great Basin, east nearly across the Plains. 



This is the Western form of P. atricapillus, and identical with it in general 

 habits. It is found as far east as Missouri, Eastern Nebraska and Western' Minne- 

 sota along the Red River, thus slightly overlapping the home of P. atricapillus 

 proper. Dr. Agersborg states that it is the only Chickadee found in Southeastern 

 Dakota, and the late Cojonel Goss said it was common in Western Kansas. In the 

 South it has been found in Teixas, where it was found mixed with the Southern 

 Chickadee. Prof. Lantz took a fine set of the eggs of the Eastern form.f The eggs 

 of the Long-tailed Chickadee are dull white, and very uniformly speckled with 

 reddish-brown; their average size is .60x.47. 



7356. OREGOIT CHICKADEE. Parus atricapillus occidentalis (Baird.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Northwestern coast district of United States, from Northern California north- 

 ward (to Southern Alaska?). 



A common bird along the coast region of Northern California, Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, possessing all the habits of the Eastern atricapillus, and nesting in a like 

 manner. The eggs of the two birds are indistinguishable. The average size of the 

 eggs in a series of ten sets is .60x.48 inches. 



736. CAEOLIlfA CHICKADEE. Parus carolinensis Aud. Geog. Dist.— East- 

 ern United States, chiefly soutli of 40°, west to Missouri, Indian Territory and East- 

 ern Texas. 



The Carolina or Southern Chickadee is a common bird in Eastern United States, 

 chiefly south of 40° It is supposed to be resident throughout its range, and is par- 

 ticularly abundant in the Southern States. This bird, like the Black-capped Chicka- 

 dee, nests in old Woodpeckers' excavations, natural cavities of trees, hollow fence 

 rails', etc., not at a great elevation. The material used in these cavities consists of 



* American Ornithology, or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States. 

 Illustrated with Plates engraved from, drawings from Nature. By Alexander Wilson and 

 Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Popular edition. Four volumes in one. Philadelphia: Porter 

 & Coates. Vol. II, p. 214. 



t Cf. Eeport on Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley in the years 1S84 and 1885, by 

 W. W. Coolte. Edited and revised by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Washington. Gpvernment 

 printing, Office. 1888. P. 278. , 



