BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
319 
Common resident; found in all localities, but during- the summer 
these birds are usually seen in woods and thickets, from which in win- 
ter they often come about houses, or, in small flocks, frequent weedy 
places in flelds and swamps in search of food. The common name arises 
from their familiar note of chick-a-dee-dee. These birds sometimes nest 
in natural cavities, but frequently, woodpecker-like, they excavate holes 
in trees, stumps, etc., in which they build a nest of hair, feathers, mosses, 
flne dried grasses or other soft materials. The eggs, mostly six or seven, 
sometimes more, are white, spotted or dotted, chiefly about the larger 
end, with reddish-brown ; measure about .60 long by .50 wide. Audubon 
writing of the Black cap says : They lay their eggs in the hole deserted 
by some small woodpecker. “ As it has been my fortune to witness a 
pair at this work, I will here state what occurred, notwithstanding the 
opinion of those who informed us that the bill of a titmouse is ‘ not 
shaped for digging.’ While seated one morning under a crab-apple 
tree, I saw two Black-cap Titmice fluttering about in great concern, as 
if anxious to see me depart. By their manners, I was induced to be- 
lieve that their nest was near, and anxious to observe their ijroceedings, 
I removed to a distance of about twenty paces. The birds now became 
silent, alighted on the apple-tree gradually moved towards the base of 
one of its large branches, and one of them disappeared in what I then 
supposed to be the hole of some small woodpecker ; but I saw it pres- 
ently on the edge, with a small chip in its bill, and again cautiously ap- 
proached the tree. When three or four yards off I distinctly heard the 
peckings or taps of the industrious worker within, and saw it come to 
the mouth of the hole and return many times in succession in the course 
of half an hour, after which I got up and examined the mansion. The 
hole was about three inches deep, and dug obliquely downward from 
the aperture, which was just large enough to admit the bird. I had 
observed both sexes at this labor.” The Chickadee feeds on different 
forms of insect life and the seeds of various weeds, grasses and other 
plants. Crumbs of bread, pieces of meat, fragments of apples, pears 
and other fruits are also eaten. 
Parus carolinensis Aud. 
Carolina Chickadee. 
Description. 
Length about 4g inches ; extent about 7. Similar to atricapillus but averaging 
smaller; the wing and tail dimensions in atricapillus average about the same, but 
in carolinensis the tail is a little shorter than the wing. The wings (tertials and 
greater coverts) lack the distinct white, so well marked in atricapillus. 
Habitat . — “Eastern United States, chiefly south of 40°, west to Missouri, Indian 
Territory and eastern Texas. 
The Carolina Chickadee, a southern species, has been found as an oc- 
