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 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 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, 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
