n a hole, and the 5-8 white, brown-marked eggs are
laid in April.

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

_Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus. Case 2, Fig. 37_

Crown black, wing-coverts margined with whitish.
L. 5-1/4.

_Range._ Nests from central Missouri and northern
New Jersey north into Canada, south, along the
Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters south to
Maryland.

Washington, rare and irregular W.V., Oct. 19-Apl.
19. Ossining, tolerably common P.R. Cambridge,
common P.R., more numerous in fall and winter. N.
Ohio, common P.R. Glen Ellyn, fairly common P.R.
SE. Minn., common P.R.

While the Chickadee is with us throughout the year, it is during the
winter that he takes first place in our affections. Active, cheerful,
friendly, he is an ever welcome visitor to our lunch-counters, and often
shows complete and winning confidence in us by perching on our hands.
His clearly enunciated _chick-a-dee_, with its variations, we accept as
his characteristic language, but the sentiment expressed in his two- or
three-noted whistle seems to belong to the Pewee rather than the
sprightly Black-cap. It is, in fact, often falsely attributed to that
bird, even when our books tell us that the Pewee is wintering in the
tropics!

The Chickadee nests in holes, usually within ten feet of the ground,
laying 5-9 white, brown-speckled eggs in the first half of May.

CAROLINA CHICKADEE

_Penthestes carolinensis carolinensis. Case 4, Fig. 68_

Smaller than the Black-cap; without white margins
on the wing-coverts. L. 4-1/2.

_Range._ Southeastern United States, north to
northern New Jersey and central Missouri. The
south Florida form (_P. c. impiger_) is slightly
smaller and darker.

Washington, very common P.R., particularly in
winter.

Whether because of a different temperament or because milder winters
make him less dependent on man's bounty, the Carolina Chickadee does not
show that unquestioning confidence in our good faith which makes the
Black-cap so dear to us.

The _chick-a-dee_ note is less clearly and more hurriedly given by the
Carolina, and the _pe-wee_ whistle is not so loud and usually consists
of four notes instead of two. The nesting habits and eggs of the two
species are alike, but the southern bird begins to lay in March.