A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway

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СКАЧАТЬ although the tail and wing appear to be of much the same size. The body and feet are, however, smaller, and the extent of wing is three quarters of an inch less. The bill is apparently shorter and stouter.

      The primaries are proportionally and absolutely considerably longer than the secondaries in the present species, the difference being .55 of an inch, instead of .45. The tail is rather more rounded, the feathers narrower.

      The tail is considerably shorter than the wing, instead of longer; the black of the throat extends much farther back, is more dense and more sharply defined behind, than in atricapillus. Taking into view these differences, and others of color, we feel justified in retaining this as a species distinct from atricapillus, and, in fact, having meridionalis as its nearest relative (see Synoptical Table). Both this species and atricapillus are found together in the Middle States, each preserving its characteristics.

      Habits. South of the once famous line of Mason and Dixon this smaller counterpart of the Chickadee seems to entirely replace it, although in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and occasionally even as far to the north as New York City, the two occur together. Its range is presumed to be all the States south of the Potomac and the Ohio, as far to the west as the Rio Grande. It was probably this species, and not the atricapillus, which was met with by Dr. Woodhouse in the Indian Territory. Without much doubt it breeds in all the States south of Pennsylvania.

      In Southern Illinois, as far north in the Wabash Valley as the mouth of White River, this is the only species, unless the P. atricapillus occasionally occurs in winter. Specimens from this region are undistinguishable from those taken in Georgia and the extreme Southern States, and do not present the peculiar features of P. atricapillus. It is a very abundant species, and resident, being in winter one of the most common, as well as one of the most familiar birds, inhabiting all localities, giving preference neither to swampy woods nor to door-yards, for it is as often seen in one place as another. It is never gregarious, though many may often be seen or heard at the same moment. It begins incubation early in April, generally selecting the wild plum and red-bud trees in the woods. This species very often constructs its own nesting-places, and the soft wood of these trees is very easily excavated. The excavation is generally made in a horizontal dead limb, with the opening on the under side; this is neat and regular, and as elaborate as those of any of the woodpeckers. Sometimes, however, a natural cavity is selected, frequently in a prostrate stump or “snag.” The nest is almost always a very elaborate structure, being a strong compact cup or bed of “felt,” whose main material is rabbit-fur and cow-hair.

      In its habits it seems to resemble more closely the P. palustris of Europe than the atricapillus, being generally found only in the immediate vicinity of ponds and deep, marshy, moist woods. It is also rarely found other than singly or in pairs, the parent birds, unlike most of this family, separating from their young soon after the latter are able to provide for themselves. It rarely or never moves in flocks.

      Their notes are said to be less sonorous and less frequent than those of our Black-capped Titmouse. In the winter a portion retire from the coast in South Carolina into the interior of the State and into Florida, where Mr. Audubon found them, in the winter of 1831 and 1832, much more abundant than he had ever seen them elsewhere. He found them breeding as early as February, occasionally in the nests deserted by the Brown-headed Nuthatch. A nest obtained by Dr. Bachman from a hollow stump, about four feet from the ground, was in form cup-shaped, measuring two inches internally in diameter at the mouth, and three externally, with a depth of two inches. It was constructed of cotton, fine wool, a few fibres of plants, and so elaborately felted together as to be of uniform thickness throughout.

      Mr. Audubon was in error in regard to the eggs, which he describes as pure white. Their ground-color is of pure crystalline whiteness, but they are freely and boldly marked all over with deep reddish-brown and red spots. These, so far as we have compared the eggs, are larger, more numerous, and more deeply marked than are any eggs of the atricapillus we have ever met with.

      According to the observations of the late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt of Whitfield County, Georgia, these birds usually breed in holes that have been previously dug out by the Picus pubescens, or in decaying stumps not more than five or six feet from the ground. He never met with its nest in living trees. The eggs are from five to seven in number, and are usually deposited in Georgia from the 10th to the last of April.

      The eggs of this species are slightly larger than those of the atricapillus, and the reddish-brown blotches with which they are profusely covered are much more distinctly marked. They are of a spheroidal oval in shape, have a pure white ground, very uniformly and generally sprinkled with blotches of a reddish-brown. They measure .60 by .50 of an inch.

Parus rufescens, TownsCHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE

      Parus rufescens, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, II, 1837, 190.—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 371, pl. cccliii.—Ib. Birds Am. 1841, 158, pl. cxxix.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 394; Review, 83.—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859, 194 (nesting).—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 14, No. 86.—Dall & Bannister (Alaska).—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 47. Pœcile rufescens, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 230.

      Sp. Char. Whole head and neck above, and throat from bill to upper part of breast, sooty blackish-brown. Sides of head and neck, upper part of breast, and middle of body, white; back and sides dark brownish-chestnut. Length, 4.75 inches; wing, 2.36; tail, 2.16.

      Hab. Western United States, near Pacific coast.

      Habits. The Chestnut-backed Titmouse was first obtained by Townsend on the banks of the Columbia River, and described in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy. It is a resident, throughout the year, of the forests of the Columbia, and is found throughout California. Like all of this familiar family, they may be seen in small flocks, of all ages, in the autumn and winter, moving briskly about, uttering a number of feeble querulous notes, after the manner of the atricapillus, but never joining in anything like the quaint and jingling song of that bird. They occasionally have a confused warbling chatter. These busy little groups may be often seen in company with the Parus occidentalis and the Regulus satrapa, moving through the bushes and thickets, carefully collecting insects, their larvæ and eggs, for a few moments, and then flying off for some other place. They are supposed to rear their young in the midst of the densest forests.

      Mr. Nuttall states that when the gun thins their ranks the survivors display surprising courage and solicitude, following their destroyer with wailing cries, entreating for their companions.

      Dr. Gambel found the young of this species in great abundance around Monterey in the fall and winter months. Dr. Heermann saw them in June, 1852, feeding their young in the vicinity of San Francisco, where, however, they are rare.

      In Washington Territory, Dr. Cooper found this the most abundant species. It preferred the dense evergreens, where large parties could be found at all seasons busily seeking food among the leaves and branches, ascending even to the highest tops. They were usually in company with the Reguli and the other Titmice. Mr. Bischoff found them abundant at Sitka.

      They nest, like all the others of this genus, in holes in soft decayed trunks and large limbs of trees a few feet from the ground. Their eggs are not as yet known.

Parus hudsonicus, ForstHUDSON’S BAY CHICKADEE; BROWN-CAPPED CHICKADEE

      Parus hudsonicus, Forster, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 383, 430.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 543, pl. cxciv.—Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 155, pl. cxxviii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 395; Review, 82.—Samuels, 185.—Dall & Bannister (Alaska). Parus hudsonicus var. littoralis, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. IX. 1863, 368.

      Sp. Char. Above yellowish olivaceous-brown; top of head purer brown, not very different in tint. Chin and throat dark sooty-brown. Sides СКАЧАТЬ