216 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



their actions and their numerous notes there is 

 a difference, though I confess it is not easily 

 denned, bat after some study their identifica- 

 tion becomes unquestionable. In the northern 

 bird the crown of black edged with white, so 

 conspicuous in the congener, is replaced by a 

 crown of rich brown edged with ashy ; the 

 throat also is brown,aud the entire upper parts 

 are more brown than ashy. Then the head 

 does not appear so round, so much like a ball 

 of down as the Black-cap's does, and the 

 whole plumage partakes less of the fluffy 

 character. The feathers appear firmer and 

 set close to $ie body giving the bird, in a 

 slight degree, a trimmer and more warbler- 

 like look. And just as this additional stiffness 

 in the contour feathers increases the dignity of 

 the bird's appearance so does a slight stiffness 

 in his movements add to the dignity of the 

 bird's manners — if dignity is at all applicable 

 to a bird who will persist in hanging to a limb 

 with his head downwards and acting otherwise 

 like a romp-loving school boy just after a 

 circus has passed his way. For like all the 

 race the Hudsonian lives principally on the 

 eggs and larva? of insects, which it finds in the 

 crevices of the bark of trees, and in hunting- 

 after these it performs a variety of amusing 

 and wonderful gymnastic feats, though I have 

 never seen one attempt to climb the trunk of 

 a tree as do their next of kin, the creepers. 

 But in all these movements this species exhi- 

 bits just a little less of that rollicking style — 

 that free abandon which is so pronounced in 

 the antics of the Black-cap. And in the 

 songs of the two you can trace a difference of 

 a somewhat similar character; that of the 

 Hudsonian lacks the extreme sweetness and 

 smoothness of its cousins. The voice is harsher 

 and the syllables are delivered more distinctly 

 and more deliberately. But with all their 

 efforts to affect boarding-school airs they must 

 be rather genial fellows, for in the autumn 

 and winter troops of six or eight are met 

 together and generally in company with as 

 many Black-caps and a small contingent of 

 Kinglets. Tree Sparrows sometimes join the 

 party, and but a few days ago I met such a 

 troop " doing " the rounds of the trees in one 

 of the public squares of this city with a pair of 

 Downy Woodpeckers following close in their 

 rear. 



The Hudsonians chatter away as they hunt 

 for their food from branch to branch and tree 

 to tree, but they do not always sing their full 

 song ; more frequently the first note heard 



from an advancing flock is something like 

 tsay-day-day , the last syllables rather length- 

 ened or a sharper, quicker te-teet-chee-chee, and 

 occasionally a guttural tse-pu-pu-pu. They 

 have numerous other minor notes with which 

 they fill in the intervals, and one, which they 

 use chiefly when resting under the cover of 

 heavy evergreen foliage, and in such places as 

 they select for sleep, is like the thin tsip of a 

 Kinglet. While on their foraging expeditions, 

 and indeed at all times, they exhibit no symp- 

 toms of shyness and appear quite indifferent to 

 the presence of mankind, occasionally pausing 

 to gaze at an inquisitive intruder with a comi- 

 ical " who-are-you-looking-at ? " air, and pro- 

 bably following this by some performance 

 around a limb, as if to show off their athletic 

 capabilities. 



In the spring these gay companions separate, 

 each taking a mate, and starting boldly into 

 housekeeping affairs. It has been stated that 

 the Hudsonian Chickadee selects a deep forest 

 for the site of its nest, and this may be the 

 general rule, but of the four nests that I have 

 seen neither were placed in any such seclusion. 

 The one most carefully hid away was in a 

 rather thick swamp, but was quite close to the 

 outskirts of a village and within a hundred 

 yards of a much used highway; two of the 

 others were in open pastures through which 

 children played daily; while the fourth was in 

 a telegraph post within a hundred yards or so 

 of a railway station. During last season I was 

 enabled to examine two nests of this species 

 before they were removed from their original 

 positions, one of these was found near Ed- 

 mundston, not far from the Quebec border, by 

 Mr. H. A. Purdie, of the Nuttall Club, Cam- 

 bridge, and the other was discovered by Mr. 

 James W. Banks within an hour's walk of this 

 city. These- two nests were so nearly alike 

 both in position and construction that a de- 

 scription of one will apply equally well to 

 either. They were placed in decayed and 

 weather-beaten stumps (apparently spruce or 

 fir), some three feet high and five inches in 

 diameter, but unlike the Black-cap, who makes 

 an entrance from the side, these builders had 

 entered the stump from the top, beginning 

 with a hole of about two inches diameter, 

 which size was maintained for some six or 

 eight inches, when it was increased gradually 

 to about three inches, and this width was con- . 

 tinued to the base of "the excavation some 

 twelve to fourteen inches from the top. At the 

 bottom of this cavity, under the nest proper, 



