CHICADEE, OR BLACK-CAPT TITMOUSE. 243 
the snow-bank beneath and quench their thirst by swal- 
lowing small pieces ; in this way, their various and frugal 
meal is always easily supplied $ and hardy, and warmly 
clad in light and very downy feathers, they suffer little 
inconvenience from the inclemency of the seasons. In- 
deed in the winter, or about the close of October, they 
at times appear so enlivened as already to show their 
amorous attachment, like our domestic cock, the male 
approaching his mate with fluttering and vibrating wings ; 
and in the spring season, the males have obstinate en- 
gagements, darting after each other with great velocity 
and anger. Their roost, I suspect, is in the hollows of de- 
cayed trees, where they also breed, laying their eggs 
merely in the dry rotten wood, without any attempt at a 
nest ; * these are from 6 to 12 in number, white, with 
specks of brown-red. They begin to lay about the mid- 
dle or close of April, and though they commonly make 
Use of natural or deserted holes of the Woodpecker, yet 
at times, they are said to excavate a cavity for them- 
selves with much labor. The first brood take wing 
about the 7th or 10th of June, and they have sometimes 
a second towards the end of July. The young, as soon 
as fledged, have all the external marks of the adult, the 
head is equally black, and they chatter and skip about, 
with all the agility and self-possession of their parents, 
who appear nevertheless very solicitous for their safety. 
From this time the whole family continue to associate to- 
gether through the autumn and winter. They seem to 
move by concert from tree to tree, keeping up a contin- 
ued ’ tshe-de-d<e-de-de , and J tshe~de-de-de-dait , preceded by 
a shrill whistle, all the while busily engaged, picking 
* In Europe, however, this kind, if the same species, as asserted by Temminck, is 
said to dig out an excavation in decayed willows, in which it makes a nest of moss, 
thistle down, and sometimes a little wool and feathers. 
