26 THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



No. 42. Parus carolinensis (Aud.,) Carolina Chickadee. 



Like the last, this is called "Tomtit" by the natives,. It shares most ot the 

 habits of the Titmouse but I don't think it is a nest robber. 



This species is very like the Black-capped Chickadee of the Eastern States, re- 

 placing that species in the South Atlantic and Gulf States. The chin, throat and 

 top of head to nape, black, sides of head, whitish ; rest of upper parts brownish- 

 ash ; under parts dingy white and slightly brownish on the sides. Wings and 

 tail like the upper parts. A specimen before me measures — length, 4.53 in ; extent, 

 7.02 in. ; wing, 2.46; tail, 2.24. It is very close to P. atricapillus and should really 

 be listed as a variety of that species. 



This Chickadee is resident here, and is found chiefly in the timbered uplands, 

 where its merry "Chick-a-dee-dee" is heard all the year round. 



It commences nesting i.i March, and fresh eggs can be found until June (thus 

 indicating that two or three broods are raised in a season.) It is a little more 

 choice in its location for a nest than the Titmouse. A deserted Woodpecker's 

 nest is often used, but the majority of the nests I find are in rotten black-jack 

 stubs and excavated by the birds themselves. A few of them nest in boxes that 

 I've nailed up in the woods. The nests vary but little being built of moss, cotton 

 (when obtainable) a few feathers and generally lined with rabbit fur, sometimes 

 with the hair or fur of other animals. The bird sets close when the nest is dis- 

 turbed and it is necessary to lift it off to see what it is trying to conceal. 



The eggs vary in number from five to seven, never more with me; oval in 

 shape, white, thickly spotted with reddish-brown. The spots are sometimes con- 

 fluent, forming blotches, occasionally covering the larger end of the egg. Some- 

 times the eggs are finely speckled with small pale-brown spots, and one specimen 

 before me has these specks forming a wreath about the smaller end. A series of 

 eleven eggs (two sets,) average .63X.52 inches. I have also found several sets 

 where the eggs were sub-globular, like those of some owls. 



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