296 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 24 



Sitta canadensis Linnaeus. Red-breasted Nuthatch 

 Not breeding at any point visited. One was seen at Doch-d-a-on 

 Creek on July 22, at a time when birds were generally beginning to 

 move about, and several more on July 26. An immature male (no. 

 40234) was taken at Flood Glacier, August 2. No more were seen. 



Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis (Harris). Long-tailed 



Chickadee 



Seen at every collecting station east of the British Columbia- Alaska 

 boundary line. Near Telegraph Creek, the last week in May a^d the 

 first week in June, those seen were quiet and unobtrusive, and doubt- 

 less there were many more pairs nesting in the general vicinity than 

 appeared to be the case from the few we saw. A nest found near 

 Telegraph Creek contained nine young, about ready to leave on 

 June 14. At Glenbra, during the first week in July, full-grown young 

 were collected, from flocks formed by the junction of two, sometimes 

 of three, families. Encountered at Doch-da-on Creek and certainly 

 nesting there, but not so abundant as farther up the river. At Flood 

 Glacier there were a few of the birds about, but it seems unlikely that 

 they had nested there. We were not at that station at the proper 

 season to definitely ascertain this, but the woods are not of the char- 

 acter that is most favored by this chickadee ; there are no poplars at 

 all, the forest is, for the most part, of conifers with but a few cotton- 

 woods, and is dense and dark. Where the long-tailed chickadee ap- 

 pears to be most at home is in rather open and sunny poplar woods. 



Several small flocks wer^ seen at Great Glacier, August 9 to 16, 

 but again it does not seem likely that the species had been nesting 

 there. The Great Glacier is only about ten miles from the British 

 Columbia- Alaska boundary, so that it is probable that the long-tailed 

 chickadee occurs at times quite to the mouth of the river. 



The nest discovered near Telegraph Creek was in a tract of rather 

 open woods, mostly of small poplars. It was in a dead poplar stub 

 about three inches in diameter, a mere shell of dead and decayed wood, 

 hardly strong enough to hold the tightly packed and rapidly growing 

 young, who did actually break through the wall at one place. The 

 entrance hole was five inches from the base, the nest itself, flush with 

 the ground. The lining appeared to be entirely of matted moose hair. 



Both parents carried food to the nest assiduously after foraging 

 expeditions that lasted from two to five minutes. In approaching the 

 nest, the old birds came through the trees and bushes until within- 



