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

Habits. The common Chickadee or Black-capped Titmouse is so well known throughout the greater portion of the United States as to be generally accepted, by common consent, as the typical representative of its numerous family. Until recently it has been supposed to be universally distributed over the continent, and while this is now questioned, it is not quite clear where its limits occur. In Eastern Maine the Parus hudsonicus and this species meet. In the District of Columbia it crosses the northern limits of P. carolinensis, and in the northern Mississippi Valley it mingles with the var. septentrionalis. It remains to be ascertained how far the species exceeds these bounds.

A few individuals of this species were observed by Mr. Dall, December 12, at Nulato, where, however, it was not common. They were also obtained by Bischoff at Sitka and Kodiak.

As in very many essential respects the whole family of Paridæ are alike in their characteristics of habits, their manner of collecting food, their restless, uneasy movements, the similarity of their cries, their residence in hollow trees or branches, and their nesting in similar places, with the exception only of a few species that construct their own pouch-like nests, we have taken the best known as the common point of comparison. Except in the variations in plumage, the points of difference are never great or very noticeable.

In New England the Black-Cap is one of our most common and familiar birds. In the vicinity of Calais, Mr. Boardman speaks of it as resident and abundant. The writer did not meet with it in Nova Scotia, nor even in the islands of the Bay of Fundy, where the hudsonicus is a common bird.

It is a resident species, nesting early in May, and having full-fledged nestlings early in June. While it seems to prefer the edges of woods as best affording the means of food and shelter, it by no means confines itself to these localities, not only appearing familiarly around the dwellings in the winter season, but also occasionally breeding in open and exposed places. A hollow post of a fence in the midst of open cultivated fields, a decayed stump near the side of a public highway, a hollow log in a frequented farmyard, and even the side of an inhabited dwelling, are localities these birds have been known to select in which to rear their young. In the winter they not unfrequently extend their visits, in search of food, into the very heart of large and crowded cities, where they seem as much at home and as free from alarm as in the seclusion of the forest, searching every crack where insect larvæ or eggs can be hid. On one occasion a pair had built its nest over a covered well which connects with the dwelling by a side door, through which water was drawn at all hours of the day by means of buckets and a rope, the wheel for which was in close proximity to their nest. They manifested, however, no uneasiness, and even after the young were ready to fly, the whole family would return to the place for shelter at night and during inclement weather.

Their courage and devotion to their young is a remarkable trait with the whole race, and with none more than with the present species. On one occasion a Black-Cap was seen to fly into a rotten stump near the roadside in Brookline. The stump was so much decayed that its top was readily broken off and the nest exposed. The mother refused to leave until forcibly taken off by the hand, and twice returned to the nest when thus removed, and it was only by holding her in the hand that an opportunity was given to ascertain there were seven young birds in her nest. She made no complaints, uttered no outcries, but resolutely and devotedly thrust herself between her nestlings and the seeming danger. When released she immediately flew back to them, covered them under her sheltering wings, and looked up in the face of her tormentors with a quiet and resolute courage that could not be surpassed.

The nest of the Chickadee is usually a warm and soft felted mass of the hair and fur of the smaller quadrupeds, downy feathers, fine dry grasses and mosses, lining the cavity in which it is placed and contracting it into a deep and purse-like opening if the cavity be larger than is necessary. Usually the site selected is already in existence, and only enlarged or altered to suit the wishes of the pair. But not unfrequently, at some pains, they will excavate an opening for themselves, not only in decaying wood, but even into limbs or trunks that are entirely sound.

These birds in winter collect around the camps of the log-cutters, become very tame, and seek on all occasions to share with their occupants their food, often soliciting their portion with plaintive tones. Though nearly omnivorous in the matter of food, they prefer insects to everything else, and the amount of good conferred by them on the farmers and the owners of woodlands in the destruction of insects in all their forms—egg, caterpillar, larva, or imago—must be very great. No chrysalis is too large to resist their penetrating bill, and no eggs so well hidden that they cannot find them out. I have known one to attack and fly off with the chrysalis of a “Woolly-bear” or salt-marsh caterpillar (Leucarctia acræa). When thus foraging for their food they seem totally unconscious of the near presence of man, and unmindful of what is passing around them, so intent are they upon the object of their pursuit.

The notes of the Chickadee exhibit a great variety of sounds and combinations. As they roam through the country in small flocks in quest of food, their refrain is a continued and lively succession of varying notes sounding like a quaint chant. When annoyed by any intrusion, their cry is louder and harsher. They are rarely thus disturbed by the presence of man, and even when their nest is approached by him they present only a passive and silent resistance. Not so when a cat or a squirrel is observed in unwelcome vicinity. These are pursued with great and noisy pertinacity and hoarse cries of dāy, dāy, dāy, in which they are often joined by others of the same species.

So far as we have observed them, they are apparently affectionate, gentle, and loving to each other. We utterly discredit the accusation that they will treacherously beat out the brains of feeble birds of their own race. It is unsupported by testimony, and in the instance cited by Wilson he gives no evidence that this injury may not have been done by some other species, and not by one of its own kindred.

Their nest is usually near the ground, and the number of eggs rarely if ever exceeds eight. They are said to have two broods in the season, but this statement seems to be contradicted by their continued presence after June in small flocks, evidently the parents and their first and only brood, who apparently remain together nine or ten months.

The eggs of this species vary somewhat in regard to the distribution and number of the reddish-brown markings with which their white ground is more or less sprinkled. In some they are chiefly gathered in a ring about the larger end; in others they are distributed over the entire egg. Their eggs are smaller and a little less spherical in shape than those of the septentrionalis, averaging .58 by .47 of an inch.

Parus atricapillus, var. septentrionalis, HarrisLONG-TAILED CHICKADEE

Parus septentrionalis, Harris, Pr. A. N. Sc. II, 1845, 300.—Cassin, Illust., 1853, 17, 80, pl. xiv.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 389; Review, 79.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 14, No. 82. Parus septentrionalis, var. albescens, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, xxxvii. ? Parus atricapillus, Pr. Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 119.

Sp. Char. Length about 5.50 inches; wing, 2.70; tail about 3 inches. Head above and below black, separated by white on the sides of the head; back brownish-ash. Beneath white, tinged with pale brownish-white on the sides. Outer tail-feathers, primaries, and secondaries broadly edged with white, involving nearly the whole outer web of outer tail-feather. Tail much graduated; the outer feather about .50 of an inch shorter than the middle. Second quill about as long as the secondaries.

Hab. Region of Missouri River to Rocky Mountains.

This race is very similar to the P. atricapillus, but differs from it somewhat as atricapillus does from carolinensis. Its size is much greater; the tail proportionally longer, and much more graduated; the white of wing and tail purer and more extended. The bill appears to be stouter and more conical. The back has, perhaps, a little more yellowish. The spurious or first primary is larger.

It will be a difficult matter to retain this as a species distinct from atricapillus, in view of the insensible gradation from one form to the other; and it may be looked upon, with scarcely a doubt, as simply a long-tailed Western variety of the common species. P. occidentalis, and, probably, even P. carolinensis, may even fall under the same category, their peculiarities of color and size being precisely such as would a priori be expected from their geographical distribution.

Habits. The Long-tailed Titmouse appears to have an extended distribution between the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains, from Texas into the British Possessions, specimens having been received from Fort Simpson and Lake Winnipeg. Among the notes of the late Robert Kennicott is one dated Lake Winnipeg, June 6, mentioning the dissection of a female of this species found to contain a full-sized egg. A memorandum made by Mr. Ross, dated at Fort William, May 15, speaks of this bird as abundant at Fort Simpson, from August until November, the last having been seen November 10. One was shot, June 2, on Winnipeg River, “a female, who was about to lay her egg.”

In regard to its distinct individual history but little is as yet known. It was discovered and first described by the late Edward Harris, of New Jersey, who accompanied Mr. Audubon in his expedition to the upper branches of the Missouri River, and who obtained this bird on the Yellowstone, about thirty miles above its junction with the Missouri, on the 26th of July. He describes its notes as similar to those of the common atricapillus, but less harsh and querulous, and more liquid in their utterance. Subsequently specimens were obtained by Mr. Kern, artist to the exploring expedition under Fremont in 1846.

It is the largest species of this genus in America. In its breeding-habits it is not different from the Eastern representatives. Mr. B. F. Goss found this species breeding abundantly at Neosho Falls, in Kansas. They nest in decayed stumps, hollow trees, branches, logs, etc., after the manner of the atricapillus. The excavation is usually ten or twelve inches, and even more, in depth. The nest is warmly made of a loose soft felt composed of the fur and fine hair of small quadrupeds, feathers, and the finer mosses.

The eggs, usually five, occasionally eight, in number, are of a rounded oval shape, measuring .60 by .50 of an inch. They have a pure dull-white ground, and the entire egg is very uniformly and pretty thickly covered with fine markings and small blotches of red and reddish-brown intermingled with a few dots of purplish.

Parus atricapillus, var. occidentalis, BairdWESTERN CHICKADEE

Parus occidentalis, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 391 (W. Territory); Review, 81.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 14, No. 82.—Elliot, Illust. 1, pl. viii.—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 45.

Sp. Char. Tarsi lengthened. Tail graduated; outer feather about .25 of an inch shorter than the middle. Above dark brownish-ash; head and neck above and below black, separated on the sides by white; beneath light, dirty, rusty yellowish-brown, scarcely whiter along the middle of body. Tail and wings not quite so much edged with whitish as in P. atricapillus. Length about 4.75; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.40.

Hab. Northwest coast region of the United States.

This race is of the same size as P. atricapillus, and resembles it in its markings; the ashy of the back is, however, washed with a darker shade of yellowish-brown. The brown of the under parts is so much darker as to cause the predominant color there to be a pale yellowish-brown, instead of brownish-white. The fourth quill is longest; the fifth and sixth a little shorter than the third; the second is about as long as the secondaries. The tail is rounded, rather more so than in most atricapillus, the difference in the lengths of the feathers amounting to about .25 of an inch. The amount of light margining to the quills and tail-feathers is much as in atricapillus, but rather less, perhaps, on the tail.

This seems to be the Pacific coast representative of the P. atricapillus, as septentrionalis belongs to the middle region, corresponding in its differences with other Western representatives of Eastern species.

Habits. Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of Washington Territory, says of this variety: “The common Black-capped Chickadee, so abundant in the Eastern States, is, in Washington Territory, represented by the Western Titmouse, frequenting the low thickets and trees, where it is always busily employed seeking food.” He observed its nest near Puget Sound, burrowed in soft rotten wood. Dr. Suckley found it quite abundant in the valley of the Willamette, and also at Fort Vancouver during winter. In habits it closely resembles the Black-Cap of the Eastern States.

It is chiefly found in Oregon and Washington Territory, visiting the northern part of California in winter, when it is also abundant near the Columbia River. At this season it is generally found among the deciduous trees along streams and oak groves, seeking its food among the branches. It feeds on seeds and insects, and is very fond of fresh meat, fat, and crumbs of bread. They migrate but little, remaining at the Columbia River even when the ground is covered with snow. The eggs are as yet unknown, but without doubt they closely resemble those of the Eastern species.

Parus carolinensis, AudubonSOUTHERN CHICKADEE

Parus carolinensis, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 474, pl. clx.—Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 152, pl. cxxvii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 392; Review, 81.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 13, No. 81. Pœcile carolinensis, Bon. Consp. 1850, 230.

Sp. Char. Second quill appreciably longer than secondaries. Tail very little rounded. Length about 4.50 inches; wing less than 2.50; tail, 2.40. Back brownish-ash. Head above, and throat, black, separated on sides of head by white. Beneath white; brownish-white on sides. Outer tail-feathers, primaries, and secondaries, not edged with white.

Hab. South Atlantic and gulf region of United States, north to Washington, D. C., Texas and the Mississippi Valley; north to Central Illinois; the only species in the southern portion of the latter State.

This species is, in general, rather smaller than P. atricapillus, 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 of head white. Beneath white; sides and anal region light brownish-chestnut. No whitish on wings or tail. Tail nearly even, or slightly emarginate and rounded. Lateral feathers about .20 shortest. Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.66.

Hab. Northern portions of North America, from Atlantic to Pacific.

Specimens from the most northern localities appear larger than those from Maine and Nova Scotia (P. littoralis, Bryant), with proportionally longer tails (3.00 inches, instead of 2.40). We can, however, detect no other difference.

The Parus sibiricus of Europe is very similar in coloration and characters to the P. hudsonicus. The principal difference is seen in the cheeks, which in sibiricus are pure white, this color extending along the entire side of the neck, widening behind, and extending round towards the back. In hudsonicus the cheeks behind the eyes and sides of the neck are ash-gray, the white being confined to the region below or near the eye. The smoky-gray of the upper part of head and neck in sibiricus is in a stronger contrast with the brighter rufescent-gray of the back, and is separated from it by an obscure, concealed, whitish dorsal half-collar, represented in hudsonicus only by a dull grayish shade in the plumage.