From several letters received I am led to suspect that the cor- 

 rectness of the statement, made in my catalogue, that the Hud- ! 

 so^ian Chickadee breeds in New Brunswick, has been questioned. 

 There neecTnoTbe the slightest doubt on this point, as I have 

 seen four nests here ; one in 1878, built in a stump ; another in 

 1880, built in a telegraph post close by the railway station at 

 Sutton; and two during last season. Of the latter, one was 

 found near Edmunston by Mr. H. A. Purdie, and the second 

 was foimd by Mr. J. W. Banks in the suburbs of St. John. 

 These two were so similar, in position as well as construction, 

 that a description of one will serve equally well for both. They 

 were built in decayed stumps (apparently of firs or spruces) some 

 three feet high and five inches in diameter. The entrance was 

 from the top of the stump, and for the first six or eight inches 

 was about two inches wide ; then it widened gradually to three 

 inches, which latter width was carried down another six inches 

 to the bottom of the excavation. On the bottom a platform of 

 hard-packed, dry moss had been placed, and upon this a second ' 

 platform of felt, or felted hair, of a bluish-ash color (probably 

 the inner fur of the common hare), and on this base rested tlie 

 cup-shaped nest, which was also composed of this same felted 

 fur. The walls of the nest were constructed with great neatness 

 and precision, and were about two and one-half inches high and 

 half an inch thick. In the nest found by Mr. Purdie the walls 

 and lining were composed exclusively of fur, but in that found 

 by Mr. Banks there was a considerable quantity of cow's hair 

 interwoven, or rather felted, with the fur. 1 saw the nest at p]d- 

 munston on June 14, and the young in it were then but sparsely 

 clothed with down and showing little signs of feathering ; and 

 when I examined the nest near St. John, on July i, the five 

 young which it contained were in much the same stage of develop- 

 ment as those in the former nest had been. 



- BalLN.U.O. 8, Jaa, 1883. p, /O . 



I i.^ BxtoJT £[oties. 



NESTING OF HUDSONIAN CHICKADEE IN MAINE. 



On July 10, 1893, while T was walking in 

 the spruce forests in Cutler, ' Washington 

 County, Maine, a small bird suddenly flew 

 from the lower branches of a small spruce 

 tree near an opening in the woods. 



I thought she had just left her nest, and 

 upon investigating found it in a natural cav- 

 ity in the stub of a small hard-wood tree 

 which had been destroyed by fire some years 

 before. 



I waited some time for the bird to return 

 to identify it. In the course of fifteen min- 

 utes she returned, and flew into the hole 

 which contained the nest. 



When she came out, in about a minute, 

 I shot her and found she was a Hudsonian 

 Chickadee. 



The entrance to the cavity was about -16 

 inches from the ground, and the cavity itself 

 was about eight inches deep. 



The nest was compact and large, made of 

 rabbit's hair and moss. It contained six 

 young birds, a few days old. 



Gardner W. Hall. 



0.& O. Vol. 18, Oct 1893 p. 144 



Nesting of the Hudsonian Chickadee {Punt 

 tlii.s species, when excavating for its nest, some 

 of a tree, and not invariably from the top of a st 

 where. My co-laborer in this district, Mr. Ja: 

 seasons of 1S85 and 1SS6, discovered three nests 

 at the side of a decayed stub. One of these, n 



hudsonuus).—! find tliat 

 imes enters from the side 

 mp, as I have stated else- 

 les W. Banks, during the 



1 the 



■ bcf< 



ratht 



interesting example. It lays ii 



the section of the 



tree (a popla 



■) just 



where it was placed by the birds. 



The tree measures 



four inches in 



diam- 



eter, and the nest fills all the spa 



ee excepting thelittl 



i that is taken 



up by 



the outer bark, and on one side 



by a slight margin < 



f IIk- decayed 



wood. 



The nest is about two inches dee 



p, and is set on a cu 



liion of dried 





Beside the felted fur used in the 



construction of tlie 



lest, there is c 



onsid- 



erable dry moss mixed through, 



a material I have nev 



er before seen 



in the 



nests of this species. 









The entrance Avas about six 



nches from the top 



of the nest. 



After 



piercing the outside shell of ba 



k the excavation tu 



■ned downwai 



d, and 



was carried obliquely some four inches, where it was abruptly widened 

 from two to four inches. This width was continued to the bottom. — ■ 

 Montague Chamberlain, St. John, N. mLVLk-t July 1887. p. -2^' 



