_Parus atricapillus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 341 (based on _Parus
atricapillus canadensis_, BRISSON, III, 553, tab. xxix, fig.
1).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 390; Review, 80.—SCLATER, Catal.
1861, 13, no. 80.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—SAMUELS, 182.
_Pœcile atricapilla_, BON. Consp. 1850, 230. _Parus palustris_,
NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 79.
Figured by AUDUBON, WILSON, etc.
SP. CHAR. Second quill as long as the secondaries. Tail very slightly
rounded; lateral feathers about .10 shorter than middle. Back
brownish-ashy. Top of head and throat black, sides of head between
them white. Beneath whitish; brownish-white on the sides. Sides of
outer tail-feathers, some of primaries, and secondaries conspicuously
margined with white. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50.
HAB. Eastern North America, north of 39th parallel.
In this species the first quill is spurious; the fourth quill is
longest; the fifth and sixth successively a little shorter; the third
is about equal to, or a little shorter than, the eighth; the second is
a very little longer than the secondaries. The tail is a little
rounded, the innermost feather longest, the rest successively a little
shorter. The greatest difference in length of tail-feathers amounts to
.30 of an inch.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
1. Parus atricapillus, _Linn._ ♂ N. York, 12851.
2. “ _var._ septentrionalis, _Harris_. Mission Valley.
3. “ _var._ occidentalis, _Baird_. Washington Territory.
4. “ carolinensis, _Aud._ ♂ D. C., 706.
5. “ montanus, _Gambel_. Nevada, 53456.
6. “ rufescens, _Towns._ Pacific coast, 45946.
7. “ hudsonicus, _Forst._ N. Scotia.
8. Psaltriparus melanotis, _Bon._ Mexico.
9. “ minimus, _Towns._ Cal., 22417.
10. “ _var._ plumbeus, _Baird_. Arizona.
11. Auriparus flaviceps, _Sund._ 42210.]
The entire crown, from the bill to the upper part of the back, coming
down on the sides to the lower level of the eye, is pure black,
although the edge alone of the lower eyelid is of this color. A second
black patch begins at the lower mandible and occupies the entire under
surface of the head and throat, but not extending as far back within a
quarter of an inch as that on the upper part of the neck. The space
between these two patches, on the sides of the head and neck, is
white, this color extending along the black of the back of the neck as
far as its truncated extremity, but not bordering it behind. The
middle of the breast and belly, as far as the vent, is dull white,
that immediately behind the black of the throat a little clearer. The
sides of the breast and body under the wings, with the under
tail-coverts, are pale, dull brownish-white. The back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts are of a dirty bluish-ash, washed with yellowish-brown,
especially on the rump. The wings are brown; the outer edges of the
third to the seventh primaries narrowly edged with whitish; the
innermost secondaries more broadly and conspicuously edged with the
same; larger coverts edged with dirty whitish. Outer webs of
tail-feathers edged with white, purest and occupying half the web in
the external one, narrowing and less clear to the central feathers,
the basal portions, especially, assuming more the color of the back.
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, HARRIS.