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but scorns the minute ones. The prying habits of the Chickadee and 
its companions the Nuthatch, Creeper, etc., and their close examination 
of the small crevices where many insects hide or hibernate, render their 
services of great value to the husbandman, especially in winter, when 
insect enemies are scarce, and the total taken throughout the year by 
these allied species must be very great. These active little birds demand 
comparatively large quantities of food to resist the intense cold, and the 
smallness of their prey necessitates the consumption of innumerable 
individuals. 
The Chickadee’s food is 68 per cent insect and 32 per cent vegetable. 
The former comprises eggs, larvae, chrysalids, and small insects, largely 
weevils, and includes some of the worst orchard and crop pests. The 
vegetable matter is largely small seeds and wild fruit. No charges of 
damage to cultivated varieties have been advanced. Chickadees can 
easily be induced to come about the home grounds in winter and with a 
little coaxing become tame enough even to alight on the person and feed 
from the hand. A lump of suet fastened to a tree trunk is a never failing 
attraction to them and ensures their constant visits. 
738. Gambel’s Chickadee, mountain chickadee. Penthestes gambeli. L, 5. 
Plate LXXVIII B. Almost exactly like the Black-capped Chickadee but greyer, with 
less sandy wash on flanks or back, and with a white eyebrow-line. 
Distinctions. Likely to be confused only with the Black-capped Chickadee, but see 
distinctions above. 
Field Marks. Like a Black-capped Chickadee with a white line over the eye. 
Nesting. In an old woodpecker-hole or natural cavity in stub; nest usually lined 
with rabbit fur. 
Distribution. Mountains of western North America. In Canada, the western 
mountains, except the coastal slope, north to northern British Columbia. 
SUBSPECIES. The Canadian representative as recognized in the American Orni- 
thologists’ Union Check-list is the Mountain Chickadee Penthestes gambeli gambeli. Birds 
from the interior and western British Columbia have been proposed as a distinct race, the 
Short-tailed Mountain Chickadee Penthestes gambeli abbrevialus. 
So nearly like the Black-capped Chickadee as scarcely to require 
special mention. It frequents somewhat higher altitudes in summer and 
at that season the two species are rarely seen together. 
739. Siberian Titmouse, alasea chickadee. Penthestes cinctus . L, 5*50. A 
rather large Chickadee like the Brown-headed, but distinctly different in colour; a greyer 
brown and the cheeks clear and sharply white, almost meeting across the back of the 
neck. 
Distinctions and Field Marks. As above. 
Distribution. Eastern Siberia and Alaska. In Canada, only recorded from near the 
Arctic coast on Anderson river and the mouth of the Mackenzie. 
This species is to be expected only in the high western Arctics and is 
not likely to be observed elsewhere. 
740. Brown-headed Chickadee (Including Hudsonian Chickadee). Penthestes 
hudsonicus. L, 5 • 12. Similar to the Black-capped Chickadee, but duller and darker in 
general tone; cap greyish brown of nearly the same colour as the back; throat patch 
present but veiled; flanks rufous tinted. 
Distinctions. The brownish cap and back and general duller and less contrasted 
coloration. 
Field Marks. A very dark Chickadee with coloration diffused and pattern lacking 
distinctness. Its characteristic “Chick-a-da” note is hoarse, but otherwise similar to that 
of the common Chickadee. 
Nesting . In holes in trees and stubs in nest of moss and felted fur. 
