The Chestnut-backed Chickadees 
of some natural advantage; as, a place from which a bit of wood has 
been torn away, or a hole made by a grub of one of the Cerambycid 
beetles. On this account, and because opportunities or prospects are 
legion, the nest is rather difficult to find. Dr. Brewer, writing in 1874, 
thirty-seven years after the discovery of the bird by Townsend, had to 
say: “Their eggs are not as yet known.” 
Whatever the nature of the wood encountered, the Chickadee is 
prepared to take pot luck. It will sometimes chisel out a cavity in 
hard wood with all the industry of a woodpecker, or it will revel, instead, 
in the punk of some rotting branch. Or, again, with no labor at all, 
it will enter a hollow chamber by means of some knot-hole. But, as 
if to atone, it will in the last-named instance immediately set to work 
to fill up the hollow, if not chock full, at least to a becoming level. I 
have a nest wonderfully composed of moss, fur, and feathers, which 
is six inches across the top (and as level as a board), yet the nest cup 
proper occupies a space not over an inch and a half in diameter, in this 
relatively broad expanse. Mr. Milton S. Ray 1 records two instances 
where Santa Cruz Chickadees (P. r. barlowi) occupied natural cavities 
in eucalyptus trees. 
Every furred creature of the woods and some of the pastures may 
be asked to contribute to the furnishing of a Chickadee’s home. But 
however luxurious the upholstery inside, the foundation is the ancestral 
green moss. Eggs to the number of seven, or even nine, are snugly 
bestowed in the inner cavity; and these, because they have so much 
of external protection, are of the frailest, white as to ground-color, and 
sparingly dotted with pale rufous. Incubation begins with the first 
egg laid; and the female is lavishly supplied with food by her attentive 
mate. If, however, she wishes to excuse herself for a bit of exercise 
or a bath in a woodland pool, she has only to pull the fur coverlet snugly 
over her treasures, and they are safe against chilling for a very con¬ 
siderable time. 
“The female is very brave in defense of her eggs, and frequently 
cannot be made to leave the nest until it is broken open. In looking 
into a nesting hole that is occupied by the bird, I have never been able 
to overcome being badly startled by the sudden flutter of wings and 
the fierce cat-like hiss with which she dashes at the face of the intruder 
when he applies an eye to the entrance of their home. When she is 
forced to vacate, her complaints always bring up her mate, and then 
both birds hop about within two or three feet of the student, of whom 
they seem to lose all fear in anxiety over their treasures. Their only 
1 Condor, Vol. XIII., p. 211. 
622 
