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FAMILY — PARIDAE. TITMICE 
The Titmice are birds of wide distribution in the northern hemisphere 
and are as familiar to European residents as to us. They are small birds 
with rather short but comparatively strongly arched bills (Figure 315). 
Their plumage characters are usually easily recognized. 
735. Black-capped Chickadee (Including Long- tailed and Oregon Chickadees). 
chickadee. Penthestes atricapillus. L, 5*25. Plate LXXVIII B. A diminutive bird. 
Back, olive grey, with intensely black crown spreading over face to eyes and down back 
of neck; below white with sandy suffusion on flanks; a full black 
throat in sharp contrast to pure white cheeks. 
Distinctions. Easily recognized as a Titmouse or Chickadee. 
The intensely black crown and throat will separate from the Brown- 
headed; the lack of white eyebrow stripe from the Mountain; and 
the lack of rufous from the Chestnut-backed Chickadees. 
Field Marks. Their shape, a round bundle of feathers with long 
tail and no appreciable neck, and the contrastive face marks make 
them easily recognizable. Except in British Columbia not likely 
to require separation from anything but the Brown-headed 
Chickadee. The intensely black instead of brown head and throat 
marks, and its clearly uttered “ Chick-adee-dee instead of a flatter 
and hoarser “Chickradaa-daa” , make separation comparatively easy. 
Nesting. In old stumps, holes in trees, etc. Nest of moss, grasses, feathers, and plant 
down. 
Figure 315 
Black-capped Chick- 
adee; scale, §. 
Distribution. North America. In Canada, across the Dominion north to the tree 
limit. 
SUBSPECIES. Three subspecies are recognized in Canada. The Eastern Chickadee 
Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus occurs westward to or near the Manitoba line. The 
Long-tailed Chickadee Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis continues from there to east 
side of the Coast range in British Columbia. It averages a slightly longer tail and some 
very fine colour differences, none of which is constant enough for recognition without a large 
series for comparison and which are too slight for popular observation. The Oregon Chick- 
adee Penthestes atricapillus occidentalis is the Chickadee of the southern British Columbia 
coast. It is a rather more decidedly marked race, shorter in wing and tail than either of 
the above, and with slightly darker, more olive, less ochraceous, back. 
Through the coldest, most blustery, or the wettest and rawest of days, 
if a Chickadee is to be found, it will be “chickadeeing” as cheerfully as in the 
brightest weather. A discouraged Chickadee is yet to be seen by the 
writer. In the autumn and winter when birds are scarce one should listen 
to its cheery “Chica-chick-adee-de” , for it usually leads a little company of 
congenial spirits cruising through the woods, and its notes seem to form a 
rallying cry that keeps them together. Thus in the autumn the Chickadee 
is often the centre of a little host of mixed species of Warblers, Vireos, 
Kinglets, Nuthatches, and an occasional Downy Woodpecker or a Brown 
Creeper. After the migrant members have left for the winter, the remaining 
hardier ones keep casual company until spring when nesting duties scatter 
them for the season. As spring approaches, the Chickadees remember a 
new song consisting of two whistled notes, high and clear. The first is 
prolonged, and the second about two tones lower. It has been translated 
as “Spring’s here”. 
Economic Status. Few birds are more useful to mankind than the 
Chickadee. Though small, it is constantly at work, and being with us 
all winter its good work is continued throughout the year. All insects 
are very small in their early stages and the little bird that devours a whole 
cluster of eggs at a gulp may benefit agriculture as greatly as a larger 
one that makes a meal from one or two large caterpillars or adult insects 
