ranges through the forest during the summer, and retiring to its more
secluded parts, as if to ensure a greater degree of quiet, it usually
breeds there. Numerous eggs produce a numerous progeny, and as soon
as the first brood has been reared, the young range hither and thither
in a body, searching for food, while their parents, intent on forming
another family, remain concealed and almost silent, laying their
eggs in the hole deserted by some small Woodpecker, or forming one
for themselves. As it has been my fortune to witness a pair at this
work, I will here state what occurred, notwithstanding the opinion
of those who inform us that the bill of a Titmouse is “not shaped for
digging.” While seated one morning under a crab-apple tree (very hard
wood, Reader), I saw two Black-cap Titmice fluttering about in great
concern, as if anxious to see me depart. By their manners indeed I was
induced to believe that their nest was near, and, anxious to observe
their proceedings, I removed to the distance of about twenty paces.
The birds now became silent, alighted on the apple-tree, gradually
moved towards the base of one of its large branches, and one of them
disappeared in what I then supposed to be the hole of some small
Woodpecker; but I saw it presently on the edge, with a small chip in
its bill, and again cautiously approached the tree. When three or four
yards off I distinctly heard the peckings or taps of the industrious
worker within, and saw it come to the mouth of the hole and return many
times in succession in the course of half an hour, after which I got
up and examined the mansion. The hole was about three inches deep, and
dug obliquely downward from the aperture, which was just large enough
to admit the bird. I had observed both sexes at this labour, and left
the spot perfectly satisfied as to their power of boring a nest for
themselves.
The Black-cap Titmouse, or Chickadee, as it is generally named in our
Eastern States, though exceedingly shy in summer or during the breeding
season, becomes quite familiar in winter, although it never ventures
to enter the habitations of man; but in the most boisterous weather,
requiring neither food nor shelter there, it may be seen amidst the
snow in the rugged paths of the cheerless woods, where it welcomes
the traveller or the woodcutter with a confidence and cheerfulness far
surpassing the well-known familiarity of the Robin Redbreast of Europe.
Often, on such occasions, should you offer it, no matter how small
a portion of your fare, it alights without hesitation, and devours
it without manifesting any apprehension. The sound of an axe in the
woods is sufficient to bring forth several of these busy creatures,
and having discovered the woodman, they seem to find pleasure in his
company. If, as is usually the case, he is provided with a dinner,
the Chickadee at once evinces its anxiety to partake of it, and loses
no opportunity of accomplishing its object, although it sets about
it with much circumspection, as if it were afraid of being detected,
and brought to punishment, A woodcutter in Maine assured me, that one
day he happened to be at work, and had scarcely hung up his basket of
provisions, when it was observed by a flock of these birds, which,
having gathered into it at once, attacked a piece of cold beef; but
after each peck, he saw their heads raised above the edge, as if to
guard against the least appearance of danger. After picking until they
were tired or satisfied, they left the basket and perched directly
over his fire, but out of the direction of the smoke. There they sat
enjoying themselves and ruffling their feathers to allow the warmth
more easy access to their skin, until he began his dinner, when they
immediately alighted near him, and in the most plaintive tones seemed
to solicit a portion.
WILSON and others have spoken of this species as being addicted to
moving in the company of our smaller Woodpeckers and Brown Creepers,
and this in such a way as to induce most readers to believe the act to
be customary; but I have often found groups of them, at times composed
of more than a dozen, without any such companions, and I should be more
inclined to think that the Downy Woodpecker, and the Brown Creeper,
seek the company of the Titmice, rather than that the latter associate
with them. Often indeed have I watched the busy Chickadees, as they
proceeded from tree to tree, and from branch to branch, whether by
the road-side or in the interior of the forest, when no other birds
were with them. The light rustling sound of their concave wings would
intimate their approach as well as their retreat, as gaily one after
another they passed onwards from one spot to another, chattering,
peeping everywhere, and determined as it were, not to suffer a chink to
pass without inspection. Now hanging, back downward, at the extremity
of a twig, its feet almost up to its bill, it would peck at a berry
or a seed until it had devoured it, or it had fallen to the ground:
should the latter be the case, the busy bird would at once fly down,
and hammer at the fruit. To the Black-cap Titmouse the breaking of
a hazel nut is quite a pleasure, and I have repeatedly seen the feat
accomplished not only by a bird in its natural state, but by one kept
in confinement. Courageous and at times exceedingly tyrannical, it will
attack young birds, break their skulls, and feed upon their flesh, as
I have more than once witnessed. In this habit they resemble the Jays,
but in every other they differ entirely from those birds, although
the PRINCE of MUSIGNANO has thought fit to assimilate the two groups.
The Chickadee feeds on insects, their larvæ, and eggs, as well as on
every sort of small fruit, or berries, including grapes, acorns, and
the seeds of various pines. I have seen them eat the seeds of the
sunflower, the poke-berry, and pears, as well as flesh of all kinds.
Indeed it may be truly called omnivorous. Often, like Jays, you may see
them perched as it were upon their food, and holding it beneath their
feet while pecking at it; but no Jays are seen to hang head downwards
at the end of a branch.
My friend THOMAS M’CULLOCH, Esq. of Pictou, in Nova Scotia, has
favoured me with the following interesting remarks having reference
to this species. “Sometimes I have been inclined to think, that the
sight of this bird is comparatively imperfect, and that it is chiefly
indebted to some of the other senses for its success in obtaining
subsistence. This idea may not be correct, but it seems to derive some
support from the little incident which I am about to mention. While
standing at the edge of a patch of newly-felled wood, over which the
fire had recently passed, and left every thing black in its course, I
observed a small flock of these birds coming from the opposite side of
the clearing. Being dressed in black and aware of their familiarity, I
stood perfectly motionless, for the purpose of ascertaining how near
they would approach. Stealing from branch to branch, and peering for
food among the crevices of the prostrate trunks, as they passed along,
onward they came until the foremost settled upon a small twig a few
feet from the spot upon which I stood. After looking about for a short
time it flew and alighted just below the lock of a double-barrelled
gun which I held in a slanting direction below my arm. Being unable
however to obtain a hold, it slided down to the middle of the piece,
and then flew away, jerking its tail, and apparently quite unconscious
of having been so near the deadly weapon. In this country these birds
seem to be influenced by a modification of that feeling by which so
many others are induced to congregate at the close of autumn and seek
a more congenial clime. At that period they collect in large flocks
and exhibit all the hurry and bustle of travellers, who are bent upon
a distant journey. If these flocks do not migrate, their union is soon
destroyed, for when the Black-cap Titmice again appear, it is in small
flocks; their former restlessness is gone, and they now exhibit their
wonted care and deliberation in searching for food.”
The nest of this species, whether it be placed in the hole of a
Woodpecker or Squirrel, or in a place dug by itself, is seldom found
at a height exceeding ten feet. Most of those which I have seen were
in low broken or hollowed stumps only a few feet high. The materials
of which it is composed vary in different districts, but are generally
the hair of quadrupeds, in a considerable quantity, and disposed in
the shape of a loose bag or purse, as in most other species which do
not hang their nests outside. Some persons have said that they lay
their eggs on the bare wood, or on the chips left by Woodpeckers; but
this is not the case, in so far as I have examined them; and in this
my observations are confirmed by those of Dr BREWER of Boston and Mr
M’CULLOCH of Pictou, who also have inspected nests of this species.
The eggs rarely exceed eight in number; they measure five-eighths of an
inch in length, by three-eighths and three-quarters, are rather pointed
at the smaller end, white, slightly sprinkled with minute dots and
markings of light reddish. Those of the first brood are deposited from
the middle of April to that of May; for the second about two months
later. The parents I have thought generally move along with the young
of the second brood.
Dr BREWER says, “on the 20th of June, I found in a single Titmouse’s
hole a mass of the hair of the Common Skunk and moss large enough to
weigh two or more ounces, and sufficient to construct a nest for some
of our larger birds, such for instance as Wilson’s Thrush.”
Mr M’CULLOCH found a nest of this bird placed about two feet from the
ground in a small stump, which seemed to have been excavated by the
birds themselves. It contained six young, and was lined entirely with
the hair which cattle, in rubbing themselves, had left upon the stump.
The flight of this species, like that of all our American Titmice, is
short, fluttering, generally only from tree to tree, and is accompanied
with a murmuring sound produced by the concavity of the wings. It is
seldom seen on the ground, unless when it has followed a fruit that
has fallen, or when searching for materials for its nest. It usually
roosts in its nest during winter, and in summer amid the close foliage
of firs or evergreens. In winter, indeed, as well as often in autumn,
it is seen near the farm-houses, and even in villages and towns, busily
seeking for food among the trees.
“On seeing a cat, or other object of natural antipathy,” says Mr
NUTTALL, “the Chickadee, like the peevish Jay, scolds in a loud, angry,
and hoarse note, _’tshe_, _dáigh dáigh dáigh_. Among the other notes
of this species, I have heard a call like _tshe-de-jay_, _tshe-de-jay_,
the two first syllables being a slender chirp, with the _jay_ strongly
pronounced. The only note of this bird which may be called a song, is
one which is frequently heard at intervals in the depths of the forest,
at times of day usually when all other birds are silent. We then may
sometimes hear in the midst of this solitude two feeble, drawling,
clearly whistled, and rather melancholy notes like _’te-dĕrry_, and
sometimes _ye-pĕrrit_, and occasionally, but more rarely in the same
wiry, whistling, solemn tone, _’phēbé_. The young in winter also
sometimes drawl out these contemplative strains. In all cases the first
syllable is very high and clear, the second word drops low, and ends
like a feeble plaint. This is nearly all the quaint song ever attempted
by the Chickadee. On fine days, about the commencement of October, I
have heard the Chickadee sometimes, for half an hour at a time, attempt
a lively, petulant warble, very different from his ordinary notes.
On these occasions he appears to flirt about, still hunting for his
prey, in an ecstacy of delight and vigour. But after a while the usual
drawling note again occurs. These birds, like many others, are very
subject to the attacks of vermin, and they accumulate in great numbers
around that part of the head and front which is least accessible to
their foot.”
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 341.
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 566.
BLACK-CAPT TITMOUSE, PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, _Wils._ Amer.
Ornith. vol. i. p. 134, pl. 8, fig. 4.
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
United States, p. 100.
BLACK-CAPT TITMOUSE, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 241.
Adult Male. Plate CCCLIII. Fig. 3.
Bill short, straight, strong, compressed, rather obtuse; both mandibles
with the dorsal line slightly convex, the sides sloping and convex,
the edges sharp, that of the upper mandible slightly sinuate. Nostrils
basal, roundish, concealed by the recumbent feathers. Head large,
neck short, body robust. Feet of ordinary length, rather robust;
tarsus compressed, with seven anterior scutella; toes large, the three
anterior united as far as the second joint; the hind one much stronger,
and with its claw nearly as long as the middle toe. Claws large,
arched, much compressed, acute.
Plumage blended, tufty; feathers of the head glossy. Wings of moderate
length, the first quill scarcely half the length of the second, which
is equal to the first secondary, the third and seventh about equal,
the fourth and fifth equal and longest. Tail long, a little arched,
emarginate and rounded, of twelve slender rounded feathers.
Bill brownish-black. Iris dark brown. Feet greyish-blue, as are the
claws. The whole upper part of the head and the hind neck pure black,
as is a large patch on the throat and fore-neck. Between these patches
of black is a band of white, from the base of the bill down the sides
of the neck, becoming broader behind, and encroaching on the back,
which, with the wing-coverts, is ash-grey tinged with brown. Quills
dark greyish-brown, margined with bluish-white, the secondary quills
so broadly margined as to leave a conspicuous white dash on the wing;
tail of the same colour, the feathers similarly edged. Lower parts
brownish-white, the sides pale yellowish-brown.
Length to end of tail 5-1/8 inches, to end of wings 3-7/8, to end of
claws 4-1/2; extent of wings 8-1/4; wing from flexure 2-10/12; tail
2-9/12; these measurements taken from three males. In another, the bill
along the ridge (4-1/2)/12; along the edge of lower mandible 7/12;
tarsus 7/12; hind toe 3/12, its claw 4/12; middle toe 5/12, its claw
3/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLIII. Fig. 4.
The Female is similar to the male.
Male examined. The tongue is 4-1/2 twelfths long, emarginate and
papillate at the base, flat above, depressed, tapering, the point
horny, slit, with four bristly points. Œsophagus, _b_, _c_, _d_,
1-1/2 inch long, tapering at the commencement to the diameter of 2
twelfths, and then continuing nearly uniform, without dilatation; the
proventriculus, _c_, _d_, is not much enlarged. The stomach, _d_,
_e_, is a strong gizzard, of an oblong form or ovate, 4 twelfths
long, 3 twelfths broad, with strong lateral muscles; its epithelium
longitudinally rugous, and of a dark reddish-brown colour. Intestine
7-1/4 inches long, the diameter of its duodenal portion, _f_, _g_, _h_,
2-1/2 twelfths. The rectum, _g_, _k_, is 7-1/2 twelfths long; the cœca,
_j_, 1 twelfth long, and 1/4 twelfth in diameter.
[Illustration]
The trachea is 1-2/12 inch long, its diameter uniform, 3/4 twelfths,
its rings 42. It is furnished with lateral or contractor muscles,
sterno-tracheal, and four pairs of inferior laryngeal. Bronchi short,
of about 10 rings.
CHESTNUT-CROWNED TITMOUSE.
_PARUS MINIMUS_, TOWNSEND.
PLATE CCCLIII. MALE AND FEMALE.
My friend NUTTALL’s account of this Titmouse is as follows, “We first
observed the arrival of this plain and diminutive species on the
banks of the Wahlamet, near to its confluence with the Columbia, about
the middle of May. Hopping about in the hazel thickets which border
the alluvial meadows of the river, they appeared very intent and
industriously engaged in quest of small insects, chirping now and then
a slender call of recognition. They generally flew off in pairs, but
were by no means shy, and kept always in the low bushes or the skirt
of the woods. The following day I heard the males utter a sort of weak
monotonous short and quaint song, and about a week afterwards I had the
good fortune to find the nest, about which the male was so particularly
solicitous as almost unerringly to draw me to the spot, where hung
from a low bush, about 4 feet from the ground, his little curious
mansion, formed like a long purse, with a round hole for entrance near
the summit. It was made chiefly of moss, down, lint of plants, and
lined with some feathers. The eggs, six in number, were pure white,
and already far gone towards being hatched. I saw but few other pairs
in this vicinity, but on the 21st of June, in the dark woods near Fort
Vancouver, I again saw a flock of about twelve, which, on making a
chirp something like their own call, came around me very familiarly,
and kept up a most incessant and querulous chirping. The following
season (April 1836) I saw numbers of these birds in the mountain
thickets around Santa Barbara, in Upper California, where they again
seemed untiringly employed in gleaning food in the low bushes, picking
up or catching their prey in all postures, sometimes like the common
Chickadee, head downwards, and letting no cranny or corner escape their
unwearied search. As we did not see them in the winter, they migrate in
all probability throughout Mexico and the Californian peninsula at this
season.”
According to Dr TOWNSEND, “the Chinooks name it _a-ha-ke-lok_. It is a
constant resident about the Columbia River; hops about in the bushes,
and frequently hangs from the twigs in the manner of other Titmice,
twittering all the while with a rapid enunciation resembling the words
_thshish_, _tshist_, _tsee_, _twee_. The irides are bright yellow.”
PARUS MINIMUS, _Townsend_, Journal of Acad. Nat. Sciences of
Philadelphia, vol. vii. p. 190.
Adult Male. Plate CCCLIII. Fig. 5.
Bill short, strong, compressed; upper mandible with its outline arched,
the sides sloping and convex. The edges sharp, the tip descending,
acute, and considerably exceeding that of the lower; which has the
angle short, the dorsal line ascending and very slightly convex,
the edges sharp, the tip acute. Nostrils round, basal. Head rather
large, broadly ovate, convex in front; neck short; body slender. Feet
of moderate length, tarsus proportionally longer than in any other
American species, stout, compressed, with seven anterior scutella, and
two lateral plates, forming a very sharp edge behind. Toes moderately
stout, the first with its claw equal to the third, the anterior united
as far as the first web. Claws rather large, arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings, short, very broad, concave, rounded;
first quill half the length of the second, which is a quarter of an
inch shorter than the outer secondaries. Tail very long, being half the
entire length of the bird, slightly arched, much rounded, and a little
emarginate.
Bill black; feet and claws dusky or blackish brown. Upper part of the
head, and hind neck dull greyish brown; upper parts brownish-grey;
wings and tail dusky brown, tinged with grey, the margins of the quills
and tail-feathers greyish-white. Cheeks of a paler tint than the head;
all the lower parts brownish-white, the sides tinged with reddish.
Length to end of tail 4-1/2 inches; wing from flexure 1-(10-1/2)/12;
tail 2-2/12; bill along the ridge (4-1/2)/12; tarsus 7/12; hind toe
(2-3/4)/12, its claw (2-3/4)/12; middle toe 4/12, its claw 9/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLIII.
The Female is rather smaller, and its colours are somewhat paler.
A nest presented to me by Mr NUTTALL is of a cylindrical form nine
inches long, three and a half in diameter. It is suspended from the
fork of a small twig, and is composed externally of hypna, lichens,
and fibrous roots, interwoven so as to present a smoothish surface,
and with a few stems of grasses, and some feathers of _Garrulus
Stelleri_ intermixed. The aperture, which is at the top, does not
exceed seven-eighths of an inch in diameter; but for two-thirds of
the length of the nest, the internal diameter is two inches. This part
is lined with the cottony down of willows, carefully thrust into the
interstices, and contains a vast quantity of soft feathers chiefly
of Steller’s Jay, with some others, among which can be distinguished
those of _Tetrao urophasianus_, _Columba fasciata_, and _Tanagra
ludoviciana_. The eggs, nine in number, are pure white, (4-1/2)/8 of an
inch in length, by (3-1/2)/8 broad, and are rather pointed at the small
end.
LOUISIANA TANAGER.
_TANAGRA LUDOVICIANA_, WILS.
PLATE CCCLIV. MALE.
WILSON was the first ornithologist who figured this handsome bird. From
his time until the return of Dr TOWNSEND from the Columbia River no
specimen seems to have been procured. That gentleman forwarded several
males in much finer condition than those brought by LEWIS and CLARKE.
Some of these I purchased, and, on his return to Philadelphia, I was
presented with a female by my young friend Dr TRUDEAU, of Louisiana,
a representation of which you will find in Plate CCCC. fig 4. The
only account of this species is by THOMAS NUTTALL, who, however, was
unacquainted with the female.
“We first observed this fine bird in a thick belt of wood near
Lorimier’s Fork of the Platte, on the 4th of June, at a considerable
distance to the east of the first chain of the Rocky Mountains (or
Black Hills), so that the species in all probability continues some
distance down the Platte. We have also seen them very abundant in
the spring, in the forests of the Columbia, below Fort Vancouver.
On the Platte they appeared shy and almost silent, not having there
apparently commenced breeding. About the middle of May we observed the
males in small numbers scattered through the dark pine forests of the
Columbia, restless, shy, and flitting when approached, but at length
more sedentary when mated. We frequently traced them out by their song,
which is a loud, short, slow, but pleasing warble, not much unlike
the song of the Common Robin, delivered from the tops of the lofty
fir-trees. This music continues at short intervals throughout the whole
forenoon, during which time our songster is busily engaged in quest
of such coleopterous insects and larvæ as are to be found on the young
branches of the trees he frequents, and which require an assiduous and
long-continued search to gratify his wants. Of the female and nest we
are still ignorant, though they are in all probability very similar
to those of our other known species. We have not seen this bird as far
south as Upper California, though it may exist in the thicker forests
remote from the coast, which we had no opportunity of visiting.”
LOUISIANA TANAGER, TANAGRA LUDOVICIANA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith.
vol. iii. p. 27, pl. 20, fig. 1.
TANAGRA LUDOVICIANA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
United States, p. 105.
LOUISIANA TANAGER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. i. p. 471.
Adult Male, in Spring. Fig. 1, 2.
Bill rather short, robust, tapering, compressed toward the end,
acute. Upper mandible with its dorsal outline declinate and slightly
convex, the ridge rather narrow, the sides convex, the edges sharp,
overlapping, with two slightly prominent small festoons about the
middle, and a distinct notch close to the tip, which is a little
declinate. Lower mandible strong, with the angle short and wide, the
dorsal line straight, the back broadly convex, the sides convex, the
edges sharp, the tip acute. Nostrils round, basal.
Head rather large, ovate, flattish above; neck very short; body ovate,
compact. Legs shortish; tarsus short, compressed, rather stout, with
seven anterior scutella, and two lateral plates forming an acute edge
behind; toes of moderate length; middle toe longer than tarsus, lateral
toes much shorter and equal, hind toe stout. Claws rather large,
arched, much compressed, acute.
Plumage soft, blended; feathers of the head stiffish with silky lustre,
bristles at the base of the upper mandible small. Wings of ordinary
length, the second quill longest, the first four having the outer
web attenuated towards the end; secondaries slightly emarginate. Tail
rather long, straight, emarginate, of twelve feathers.