56 
THE CONDOR 
Von. XI 
feet. In the northwestern part of the state, however, it is nothing unusual to find 
them fifty feet up in the giant fir stubs, remnants of long past forest fires. 
The cavity is usually about seven inches in depth, seldom any more, tho oc- 
casionally much less. Almost any soft substance to be found in the vicinity is 
used to make up the nesting material, but there is always a substantial foundation 
of green moss. Cotton waste from factories, hair of cows, squirrels, rabbits and 
goats, and small feathers are most often used, one very beautiful nest in my collect- 
ion being composed almost entirely of feathers from the Kennicott Screech Owl 
(Otus asio kennicottii) . No matter how large the bottom of the cavity may be, 
it is always packed tight, and I have sometimes removed a nest that would easily 
fill both hands. 
The set of eggs is generally completed by the second week of May, and the 
eggs commence to incubate from the time the first one is laid. This is caused 
largely, I think, by the bird covering her eggs with the warm nesting material until 
the full set is laid, which she does every time she leaves the nest. Added to this 
the nest is always fully exposed to the heat of the sun. Whatever may be the true 
reason it is always difficult to prepare a large set in thoroly satisfactory condition 
for the cabinet. It may be of interest to state here that I have occasionally noticed 
this same habit in the Puget Sound Bush-Tit ( Psaltripants minimus saturatus), 
Tide Wren ( Telmatodytes palustris pallid icola) and Western Golden-crowned 
Kinglet ( Regains satrapa olivaceus) . 
Seven eggs usually make up the set, six is common, while in twelve seasons I 
have taken only two sets of eight and two of nine. They may readily be distin- 
guished from those of the Oregon Chickadee ( Pants atricapillus occidentalis ) , 
the only other chickadee in this section, by their greater delicacy in both texture 
and coloring. The shell is very frail, and the color is a pale milky white, dotted with 
light red, the markings being mostly confined to the larger end. The eggs vary 
greatly in both shape and size, some being shaped like a quail’s egg, others like a 
murre’s egg. This is frequently the case in the same set. The most common type 
has a decided tendency to long ovate; but there is such a variation that it would be 
hard to call anything strictly typical. Three selected eggs taken from ordinary 
types measure in inches ,77x.47, .75x.50, and .76x.46, and an average egg would 
measure somewhere between these three. 
The female is very brave in the defence 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 fierce cat-like hiss with which she dashes at the 
face of the intruder when he applies an eye to the entrance of her 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 bird student, of whom they seem to 
lose all fear in anxiety over their treasures. Their only note of complaint is a 
weak, squeaking peep, not in the least what one would expect from a true chicka- 
dee. On the other hand they have a very pleasing and quite lengthened song, not 
at all unlike that of the Western Chipping Sparrow ( Spizella passerina arizonce) . 
The only season at which I have heard them sing is in the spring, at much the same 
time as the Black-capped Chickadee ( Paras atricapillus ) has greeted me with his 
note of pee-wee in Massachusetts. 
Collecting eggs of this species is most uncertain work, as, should the nest be 
examined ever so carefully before the eggs are laid, the birds almost invariably de- 
tect the fact and promptly desert. Added to this is the habit before mentioned of 
