222 BIRDS—PARID&. 
singular habit of amusing itself somewhat as the House Wren is said 
to do. On two occasions I have found them employed in filling 
holes in trees with the flowers of forest trees, In the first instance 
I watched the birds, apparently a pair, for several days, and saw 
them carry for a considerable distance the blossoms of the ash, and de- 
posit them in a hole in an ash tree about twenty feet from the ground. 
At length, tired of waiting, I mounted the tree, and found a dark hole 
only. A stick was thrust into it for a distance of four or five feet, and 
met no resistance. On the second occasion I met with a similar experi- 
ance, except that disappointment was not unlooked for. A lady friend 
complained to me that a pair of these birds vexed her much by picking 
to pieces and carrying away the moss from her hanging baskets. A gas- 
post had been put in position in the vicinity, but no lantern or gaspipe 
had been attached. Into the cavity of this the birds carried the moss 
and any other articles which they found portable. Conjecture fails to 
account for such freaks. 
The nest of the Crested Titmouse is placed in some natural cavity of 
a tree; a hollow in the fork of an apple tree is a favorite spot. The ma- 
terials composing it are few, generally bits of moss, leaves, and grass. I 
have found the eggs on the bare floor of the cavity. The eggs are white, 
thickly sprinkled with reddish-brown, ao sparsely with lilac spots. 
They measure .75 by .56 inch. 
Mr. Langdon (1. c. Bull.) records two cases of partial albinism in Ohio 
specimens of this species. 
GENUS PARUS. Linnzus. 
Head not crested. Body and head stout. Upper and lower outlines of bill only 
slightly convex. Tarsus but little longer than middle toe. 
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS L. 
Black-capped Chickadee. 
Parus atricapillus, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 164.—REaD, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1853, 
335; Proc. Philad. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 395, 1853.— WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 
365; Reprint, 1861, 7; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 562; Reprint, 
1875, 2.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 4; Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1878, 
111; Reprint, 2; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 170; Reprint, 4. 
Parus atricapillus, LINNZUS, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 341. 
Above brownish ash. Crown and nape, chin and throat black. Beneath white, brown- 
ish on sides. Wing and tail feathers more or less whitish edged. Length, 5; wing and 
tail, 24. 
North America; chiefly northern and eastern. 
Abundant resident in Northern and probably Eastern Ohio. Not com- 
mon winter visitor in Central and Southern Ohio. Twenty-five years 
