Part 29

When I had descended,—singing and whistling right merrily snatches of songs once popular, “Sweet Marie,” and the like, for my spirits were uncommon high,—the mother-bird returned to the nesting tree and haunted the site of the ruined home persistently. First she peered down from the branch above; then she dropped down to the branch below, and craned her head, sorely perplexed. She lighted upon the white stump of the severed limb and examined it confusedly, then she fluttered in midair precisely where the nest ought to have been, and dropped to the limb below again in despair. This mystified quest she repeated over and over again until it wrung the hearts of the beholders. Well, well; we are inconsistent creatures, we humans. And somehow the comfortable philosophy of the bird-nester fails at these critical points.

No. 105. SITKAN KINGLET.

A. O. U. No. 749 a. Regulus calendula grinnelli Palmer.

Synonyms.—Alaskan Kinglet. Sitka Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Grinnell’s Kinglet.

Description.—Like preceding but of much darker coloration,—a “saturated” form; also wing somewhat shorter, bill larger, etc. Av. measurements of male[44]: wing 2.23 (56.6); tail 1.69 (42.9); bill .34 (8.7); tarsus .72 (18.1).

Recognition Marks.—Of strikingly darker coloration than _R. calendula_—supposed to be the exclusive form in winter.

Nesting.—As preceding. Does not breed in Washington.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district breeding from British Columbia to head of Lynn Canal and Yakutat Bay, Alaska; south in winter (at least) to middle California.

Range in Washington.—Early spring and late fall migrant, common winter resident on Puget Sound.

Authorities.—_? Regulus calendula_, Licht. _Cooper and Suckley_, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. XII. pt. II. 1860, p. 174 (Winter resident on Puget Sound). Bowles, Auk, Vol. XXIII. Apr. 1906, p. 148.

Specimens.—B. E. P(A).

So far as our somewhat scanty observation goes, this would appear to be the prevailing form in the earlier spring migrations, and the only one found in winter upon Puget Sound. Thus, while the lighter-colored birds, which summer in our mountains and in British Columbia, are enjoying sunshine in Mexico, this Alaskan coast dweller is re-dyeing his plumage under the dull skies of the Pacific watershed.

The Sitkan Kinglet is not abundant in winter, altho it enjoys a general distribution. It does not associate in flocks of its own kind to any large extent, but oftener two or three individuals join themselves to winter bird troops consisting of Chickadees, Seattle Wrens, Western Golden-crowned Kinglets, Puget Sound Bush-Tits, etc. At such times it is noticeable that they keep largely to the lower levels, for they hunt and titter among the spiræa thickets, salal bushes, logs and evergreen saplings, while their cousins only occasionally venture within five or ten feet of the ground, and range from there to the tops of the tallest firs.

The notes, too, of the Sitkan Kinglet are low-pitched and explosive, as compared with the fairy sibilations of the Golden-crowns. The neighborhood of “Seattle” Wrens and Western Winter Wrens will serve also to throw a certain wren-like quality of the Alaskan’s note into fine relief.

_Paridæ_—The Titmice

No. 106. CHICKADEE.

A. O. U. No. 735. Penthestes atricapillus (Linn.).

Synonyms.—Black-capped Chickadee. Black-capped Titmouse.

Description.—_Adult_: Top of head and nape shining black; throat dead black with whitish skirting posteriorly; a white band on side of head and neck, increasing in width behind; back and scapulars gray with an olivaceous cast and more or less admixture of buffy at the edges and as skirting; wings and tail dusky, more or less edged, especially on greater coverts and tertials, with ashy or whitish; breast and belly white; sides, flanks and crissum washed with buffy or light rusty (nearly whitish in summer); bill and feet dark. Rather variable in size; one adult specimen measures: wing 2.27 (57.7); tail 2.10 (53.3); bill .34 (8.6). Another: wing 2.70 (68.6); tail 2.57 (65.3) bill .38 (9.7). Length, 4.75-5.75 (120.6-146.1); average of eight specimens of medium size: wing 2.60 (66); tail 2.44 (62); bill .36 (9.1).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; of lighter coloration but not certainly distinguishable afield from _P. a. occidentalis_ (q. v.).

Nesting.—_Nest_: a heavy mat of moss, grasses, and plant-down, lined with rabbits’ fur, wool, hair, or feathers, in made hole or natural cavity of stump or tree, usually not over ten feet from the ground, and near water. _Eggs_: 5-8, white, marked sparingly with reddish brown, in small spots, tending to gather about larger end. Av. size, .58 × .47 (14.7 × 11.9). _Season_: April 15-May 15; one brood.

General Range.—Eastern North America north of the Potomac and Ohio Valleys. “A separate ‘colony’ inhabits the area between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range, in eastern Washington (Walla Walla, Ellensburg, etc.), western Idaho (Lemi, Fort Sherman, etc.), and central British Columbia (Sicamores [Sicamoos], Clinton, Ashcroft, etc.).[45]”—Ridgway.

Range in Washington.—As above.

Authorities.—_P. a. occidentalis_ Brewster, B. N. O. C. VII. 1882, 228 (Walla Walla). J. If this colony proves to be completely isolated, as claimed, the bird should, perhaps, be separately named, and I would suggest _Penthestes atricapillus_ fortuitus.

Specimens.—B. P¹.

The Chickadees of eastern Washington, east of the Cascade foothills, along with those of northeastern Oregon, western Idaho, and southwestern British Columbia, are notably larger and brighter than _P. a. occidentalis_. In these and other regards they exactly reproduce the characters of _P. atricapillus_, which is a bird of the eastern United States, and from which they are widely separated by _P. a. septentrionalis_. Now Chickadees are resident wherever found. The most severe winters do not suffice to drive them south, and they are subjected to such uniform conditions as tend to insure stability of type, once adjustment to local environment is accomplished. We have here, therefore, either an example of a colony widely separated from the parent stock, and remaining inflexible under alien conditions, or else an indistinguishable reduplication of another form not closely related in time thru the interaction of similar conditions. If the latter supposition be the true one, and it probably is, we have in this bird a theoretical sub-species, but one which we cannot describe or distinguish in other than geographical terms.

The case is somewhat similar with our Nighthawks (_C. virginianus subsp._) and Sparrow Hawks (_Falco sparverius subsp._), but the problem in these instances is further complicated by the opportunities of migration.

No. 107. OREGON CHICKADEE.

A. O. U. No. 735b. Penthestes atricapillus occidentalis (Baird).

Synonym.—Western Black-capped Chickadee.

Description.—_Adults_: Similar to _P. atricapillus_ but smaller and coloration much darker; whitish edging on wings and tail much reduced in area; “back varying from deep mouse-gray or very slight buffy slate-gray in spring and summer to deep hair-brown or light olive in fall and winter plumage”; sides and flanks pale buffy in spring, strong brownish buff or pale wood-brown in fall plumage. Length 4.50-5.25 (114.3-133.3); wing 2.44 (62); tail 2.20 (56); bill .37 (9.5); tarsus .66 (16.8).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; no white stripe over eye as distinguished from _P. gambeli_; back gray as distinguished from _P. rufescens_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: as in _P. atricapillus_, usually placed low in stump of deciduous tree. _Eggs_: as in foregoing. _Season_: April 15-May 15; one brood.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district from northern California to British Columbia (Port Moody).

Range in Washington.—Resident west of Cascades; characteristic of wet lowlands and borders of streams; intergrades with _typicus_ on east slopes of Cascade Range.

Authorities.—_Parus occidentalis_ Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. pt. II. 1858, p. 391. (T.) C&S. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². ? Ss¹. ? Ss². Kk. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

Chickadees abound in Washington; and, because for the life of you you cannot surely tell whose notes you hear, there is a perennial necessity for levelling the glasses to make sure which is passing, Oregon or the Chestnut-backed. There are differences—Oh, bless you, yes—but then you always want to make certain, if only to pat yourself on the back and say, when you happen to have guessed correctly, “There, I knew it was an Oregon; I can always tell by its squeak.”

Chickadees are friendly little folk (and this remark applies, irrespective of species), so that wherever they go, except in the busy nesting season, they form the nucleus of a merry band, Western Golden-crowned Kinglets, Sitkan Kinglets, Creepers, Juncoes, Towhees maybe, and a Seattle Wren or two to guard the terrestrial passage, and to furnish sport for the federated fairies. The Chickadees are undisputed leaders, tho their name be legion. While they remain aloft we may mistake their dainty squeakings and minikin ways for those of Kinglets, but if we can only determine what direction the flock is pursuing, we may count on the vanguard’s being composed of these sprightly, saucy little Black-caps.

Chickadee refuses to look down for long upon the world; or, indeed, to look at any one thing from any one direction for more than two consecutive twelfths of a second. “Any old side up without care,” is the label he bears; and so with anything he meets, be it a pine-cone, an alder catkin, or a bug-bearing branchlet, topside, bottomside, inside, outside, all is right side to the nimble Chickadee. Faith! their little brains must have special guy-ropes and stays, else they would have been spilled long ago, the way their owners frisk about. Blind-man’s buff, hide-and-seek, and tag are merry games enough when played out on one plane, but when staged in three dimensions, with a labyrinth of interlacing branches for hazard, only the blithe bird whose praises we sing could possibly master their intricacies.

But Chickadee is as confiding and as confidence-inviting as he is capable. It is precisely because you babble all your secrets to him at the first breath that the whole wood-side comes to him for news. With the fatuity of utter trust he will interrogate the fiercest-looking stranger; and the sound of the “_sweetee_” call is the signal for all birds to be alert. At the repetition of it the leaves begin to rustle, the moss to sigh, and the log-heaps to give up their hidden store of sleepy Wrens, bashful Sparrows, and frowning Towhees. Juncoes simper and Kinglets squeak over the strange discovery; the Steller Jay takes notice and sidles over to spy upon the performance; while the distant-faring Crow swerves from his course and bends an inquiring eye toward the mystery. _Dee-dee-dee_ says the Black-cap. A hundred beady eyes are bent upon you, trying to resolve your domino of corduroy or khaki. _Caw_ says the Crow in comprehension, and you know that the game is up,—up for all but the Chickadee. He will stay and talk with you as long as you may endure to pucker your lips to his fairy lispings.

It is no exaggeration to say that the “_Swee-tee_” note of the Chickadee, passably imitated, is the quickest summons in the bird-world. It is the open sesame to all woodland secrets. One drawback, however, attends its use: you cannot compass it when the air is chilly and the lips thick. Now, the eastern bird, (_P. atricapillus_) has a clear, high-pitched call-note, _Swee-tee_, or _Swee-tee tee_ [Illustration: music] or [Illustration: music] which must be taken as the type of this genus and the calls of the western bird are best understood by reference to this norm. In the song of _occidentalis_ the first note of the type, “high C,” is oftenest repeated three or four times, and has a double character impossible to represent on paper; while the whole ends, or not, with the lower note of _atricapillus_. These notes may be called the _deo deo deo day_ series. In rare instances they become a ravishing trill on high C, beyond imitation or analysis.

For the rest, Chickadee’s notes divide themselves into squeaks, vocal notes, and whistles. Of the squeaks one is a very high-pitched, whining note, which closely resembles the keep-in-touch, or flocking, cry of the Western Golden-crowned Kinglet. The Chickadees employ this when in company with Kinglets, or while ranging thru the tree-tops when no other sound is audible in the woods. Then there is a regular squeaking trill which is oftenest preliminary to the familiar _dee dee dee dee dee_ (spoken) notes, but which sometimes appears alone, as by suspension or change of intent.

Of the whistled series the commonest are, first, a clearly rendered _kuswee_, not unlike the “Sweetee” theme, but of lower pitch and more trivial character; and, second the _deo deo deo day_ series, already recorded. There is a striking resemblance between the whistled and the spoken series. The _day day_ words correspond to the _deo deo_ whistles, altho they are oftenest preceded by a fairy sneeze, which we have conventionalized in “Chick”; and there is a spoken, or rather lisped, _kuswee_, which is very charming and delicate. A spoken trill occurs infrequently, and offers its analogy to both whistle and squeak.

These may seem like fine-spun distinctions. They are offered only to be forgotten; but the enjoyment of the next Chickadee troop you encounter will be enhanced by an effort to realize the striking variety of the notes heard.

Contrary to the wont of most hole-nesting birds, the Chickadee believes in warm blankets. Into the chosen cavity, whether natural or artificial, the birds lug immense quantities of moss, wool, hair, or rabbits’ fur, until the place is half filled; and the sitting bird, during the chilly days of late April and early May, is snug and warm.

Ordinarily, a hole is dug by the birds in a rotten stub at a height of two or three feet. The near presence of water is a prime requisite, and a low swampy woods is the favorite location. Sometimes a deserted nest of a Gairdner Woodpecker may be used; but, on the other hand, excavations may be made in green wood at no little cost of exertion on the part of the midgets. Several nests I have seen in willow and poplar trees, and at a height of fifteen or twenty feet.

Young Chickadees are such cunning little creatures that the temptation to fondle them is sometimes irresistible. The parents may have very decided views as to the propriety of such action, or they may regard you as some benevolent giant whose ways are above suspicion. Not infrequently, if the young are kindly treated, the parent bird will venture upon the hand or shoulder to pursue its necessary offices.

No. 108. MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE.

A. O. U. No. 738. Penthestes gambeli (Ridgway).

Description.—_Adults in spring and summer_: Somewhat as in _P. atricapillus_, head and throat similar but black interrupted by strong white superciliary stripe nearly or quite meeting fellow on forehead; upperparts plain deep ashy gray, or mouse-gray; wings and tail deeper gray with some pale grayish edging; sides of head and neck white; underparts (except throat) dull white more or less washed on sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts with gray. _Adults in fall and winter_: Upperparts washed with buffy; brownish on sides; some white edging on forehead and superciliary stripe broader. _Young_ birds are duller as to black of head and neck, and have a less distinct superciliary. Length about 5.00 (127); wing 2.75 (70); tail 2.35 (60); bill .40 (10.2); tarsus .70 (18).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; much like Oregon Chickadee, but white superciliary distinctive; range higher (on the average) than other species.

Nesting.—_Nest_: quite as in _atricapillus_ and similarly situated. _Eggs_: 5-8, _pure white_, or only faintly marked with reddish brown. Av. size, .60 × .45 (15.2 × 11.4). _Season_: May; one brood.

General Range.—Mountains of western United States from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast; north to British Columbia (chiefly east of the Cascades); south to northern Lower California.

Range in Washington.—Resident in the mountains and timbered foothills, chiefly east of the (Cascade) divide; casual at Seattle.

Authorities.—[“Mountain Chickadee” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (885), p. 22.] [_Parus montanus_, Gambel, Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. XII. 1860, p. 194. “Fort Dalles” (Baird, “Fort Dalles, Oregon”). Not a valid Washington record.] _Parus gambeli_ Lawrence, Auk, Vol. IX. Jan. 1892, p. 47. C&S. L¹. D¹. D². J.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. C.

It is either accident or the methodical habit of scrutinizing every passing bird which first reveals to you the Mountain Chickadee. He is quite similar in general appearance and conduct to the foregoing species, altho the white superciliary line does confer a little air of distinction when you look closely. His notes, so far as observed, are not different; and he exhibits the cheerful confiding nature which makes the name of Chickadee beloved.

_Gambeli_ is a bird of the foothills as well as of the mountains, and is confined almost exclusively to the East-side. I have not seen it on Puget Sound; but a dead bird was once brought by one of the school children to Miss A. L. Pollock, of Seattle.

Both of the nests which have come under my observation have been placed in decayed stumps not above three feet from the ground. One, in a wild cherry stub in northern Okanogan County, contained fresh eggs on the 18th day of May. Their color had been pure white, but they were much soiled thru contact with the miscellaneous stuff which made up the lining of the cavity: moss, cow-hair, rabbits’ wool, wild ducks’ down, hawks’ casts, etc. The birds were not especially solicitous, altho once the female flew almost in my face as I was preparing the eggs for the cabinet. And then she sat quietly for several minutes on a twig not above a foot from my eyes.

On Senator Turner’s grounds in Spokane—by permission—we came upon a nestful of well-grown young, on the 5th of June, 1906. The nest was two feet up in a stump, concealed by a clump of second-growth maples, picturesquely nestled at the base of a volcanic knob. Upon first discovery the parent birds both appeared with bills full of larvæ, and scolded daintily. Finally, after several feints, one entered the nesting hole and fed, with our eyes not two feet removed. Photography was impossible because of the subdued light, but it was an unfailing source of interest to see the busy parents hurrying to and fro and bringing incredible quantities of provisions in the shape of moths’ eggs, spiders, wood-boring grubs, and winged creatures of a hundred sorts. Evidently the gardener knew what he was about in sheltering these unpaid assistants. Why, when it comes to horticulture, three pairs of Chickadees are equal to one Scotchman any day.

The young were fully fledged, and the irrepressible of the flock (there is always an irrepressible) spent a good deal of time at the entrance shifting upon his toes, and wishing he dared venture out. The old birds fed incessantly, usually alighting upon the bark at one side of the hole and debating for a moment before plunging into the wooden cavern, whence issued a chorus of childish entreaties.

The next morning our Chickadees had all flown, and upon breaking into the abandoned home we found a nest chamber some six inches in diameter, with its original warm lining mingled with fallen punk and trodden into an indistinguishable mass by the restless feet of the chick Chickadees. A special feature of the interior construction was a knot, which had persisted as a hard core when the surrounding punk had been removed. This had evidently been no end of amusement to the young birds and of service to the parents as well, for its surface was polished by the friction of many Penthestine toes.

No. 109. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE.

A. O. U. No. 741. Penthestes rufescens Towns.

Description.—_Adults_: Crown and nape dull sepia brown becoming sooty toward lateral border—black before and behind eye, separated from sooty black throat patch by large white area broadening posteriorly on sides of neck; back, scapulars, rump, and sides of body rich chestnut; lesser wing-coverts grayish brown; upper tail-coverts hair-brown or more or less tinged with chestnut; wings and tail deeper grayish brown edged with paler gray; remaining underparts (centrally) white; under tail-coverts washed with brownish; bill black; feet brownish dusky; iris brown. The brown of crown and hind-neck deepens in winter. _Young_ birds are duller in coloration, especially as to the chestnut of back and sides. Length about 4.75 (120.6); wing 2.35 (60); tail 1.90 (48.3); bill .37 (9.5); tarsus .65 (16.5).

Recognition Marks.—Pygmy size; chestnut of _back_ and sides distinctive—otherwise not easily distinguished in the tree-tops from _P. a. occidentalis_. Frequents thicker timber and, usually, drier situations.

Nesting.—_Nest_: in hole of dead stub, usually some natural cavity enlarged and customarily at moderate heights, 10-20 feet, a couch of fine bark-shreds, green moss, etc., heavily felted with squirrel-, rabbit-, or cow-hair, and other soft substances. _Eggs_: 7-9, pure white as to ground and sparingly sprinkled with reddish brown dots, chiefly about larger end. Av. size, .61 × .47 (15.5 × 11.9). _Season_: April 25-June 15 (according to altitude); one brood.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district, from northern California to Alaska (Prince William Sound and head of Lynn Canal), east to Montana.

Range in Washington.—Resident; abundant and thoroly distributed thru forests of Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound region, decreasing in numbers from Cascade divide eastward (in heavier coniferous timber only). (We have no records of its occurrence east of Stehekin.)

Authorities.—_Parus rufescens_ Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII. 1837, 190. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. Kb. Ra. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. E.

What busy little midgets these are as they go trooping thru the tree-tops intent on plunder! And what a merry war they wage on beetle and nit as they scrutinize every crevice of bark and bract! The bird eats insects at all times of year, but his staple diet is formed by the eggs and larvæ of insects. These are found tucked away in woody crannies, or else grouped on the under surface of smaller limbs and persistent leaves, as of oak or madrone.

On this account the Chickadee must frequently hang head downward; and this he does very gracefully, using his tail to balance with, much as a boy uses his legs in hanging from a “turning pole,” swinging to and fro as tho he thoroly enjoyed it.