TITMICE, CHICKADEES: LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE 507 
Through the winter it was common near Arroyo Seco, 8,000 feet, was taken Janu¬ 
ary 19, 1904, in Hondo Canyon at 8,000 feet, and March 9, 1904, at Cienequilla, 
6,000 feet (Surber). It was common December 3-9, 1893, at Aztec 5,500 feet (Lor- 
ing); and not rare October 26, 1908, at Fruitland 5,000 feet (Birdseye). It is not 
From Biological Survey 
Fig. 87. Chickadee ( Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus) 
A bird in the hand worth two in the bush 
probable that the species breeds at either of these latter places, the birds being visit¬ 
ants from the neighboring mountains of Colorado, where they breed commonly at 
7,000 feet.— W. W. Cooke. 
A chickadee described from New Mexico by Baird as Parus albescens proved to 
be the same as Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis. 
Nest. —In holes in trees or stumps, lined with soft materials, as hair, fur, and 
feathers. Eggs: 6 to 8, white, sprinkled with reddish brown dots and spots. 
Food. —The vegetable matter eaten by the chickadee, less than half its total, 
is composed largely of seeds, mainly those of pines; while the animal matter includes 
small caterpillars, moths and their eggs, beetles, ants, wasps, bugs, flies, grasshoppers, 
and spiders. Among the injurious insects eaten are tent caterpillars, cankerworms, 
and plant lice, hibernating alfalfa weevils, and codling moth larvae. Stomachs of 
the Long-tailed taken in New Mexico contained insect and small green and red eggs. 
Next to woodpeckers, titmice are probably the most important enemies of the codling 
moth. Their habits of searching every nook and cranny, however small or difficult 
of access, and the thorough way they go over trees and stumps, enable them to find 
the favorite hibernating quarters of the larvae (McAtee). 
General Habits. —Long-tailed Chickadees, with the solid black 
cap and throat are often found along stream or river bottoms and were 
seen by us in September with a busy throng of nuthatches, vireos, 
migrating warblers and others, hunting through the sunny tops of 
cottonwoods. 
