Cassell's book of birds; vol. 2

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

Montague remarks that "the eggs of all the species of Titmouse whose eggs are known are similar in colour, and only to be distinguished from each other by size and weight. Those of the Nuthatch, Creeper, Wren, Yellow Wren, Wood Wren, and Chiffchaff all agree in their markings, and are so like those of the Titmice that it is scarcely possible to separate them with certainty if once mixed together. It is somewhat remarkable that all these birds breed in holes, or make a covered nest."

The nest is usually built in hollow trees, the decayed parts of which, as Colonel Montague informs us, it excavates artfully, carrying the chips in its bill to some distance. It always works downwards, and makes the bottom of its excavation, intended for the reception of the nest, larger than the entrance. The nest itself is compactly formed of moss and wool, lined with the soft seed-down of the willow.

The first brood consists of from eight to twelve, and the second of from six to nine eggs. These are seven lines and a half long, and six broad. The shell is white, spotted with red.

THE CAROLINA TITMOUSE.

The CAROLINA TITMOUSE (Parus Carolinensis), an American species, has the bill black, the iris dark brown, and the feet bluish grey. The whole upper part of the head and the hind neck are pure black, as is a large patch on the throat and fore neck. Between these patches of black there is a band of greyish white from the base of the bill down the side of the neck, becoming broader and greyer behind. The back and wing-coverts are ash-grey, tinged with brown; quills brown, margined with greyish blue, as is the tail, which is more tinged with grey; lower parts greyish white, tinged with brown; the sides more deeply tinted. The length of this bird is four inches and a half, extent of wings six inches. The female is similar to the male, but somewhat fainter in its tints.

The Carolina Titmouse is a constant inhabitant of the Southern States of North America, extending from the lower parts of Louisiana through the Floridas, as far as the borders of the Roanoke River, reaching eastward as far as the State of New Jersey. In general it is found only in the immediate vicinity of ponds and deep marshy and moist swamps; it is rarely seen during the winter in greater numbers than one pair together, and frequently singly, whereas the Black-cap Titmouse, which this species much resembles, moves in flocks during the whole winter, frequenting orchards, gardens, or the hedges and trees along the roads, entering the villages, and coming to the wood piles of the farmers, whereas the Southern species is never met with in such places at any time of the year, and is at all seasons a shyer bird. The Carolina Titmouse breeds in the holes abandoned by the Brown-headed Nuthatch, but we are as yet not well informed concerning either its eggs or its nest.

THE BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE.

The BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE (Parus atricapillus), likewise an American species, has the bill brownish black, the iris dark brown, and the feet greyish blue, as are the claws. The whole upper part of the head and hind neck are pure black, as is a large patch on the throat and fore neck. Between these patches of black is a band of pure 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. The quills are dark greyish brown, margined with bluish white, the secondaries being so broadly margined as to leave a conspicuous white dash on the wing. Tail same as wings, and the feathers similarly edged; lower parts brownish white, the sides pale yellowish brown. Length of body, five inches and a half; length of wing, three inches and seven-eighths. The female is similar to the male.

The opinion generally entertained concerning the extensive range of the Black-cap Titmouse has, in all probability, arisen from its great similarity to the species last described. In reality the Black-cap is rarely observed further south than the middle portions of Maryland; westward of the Alleghanies it extends as far as Kentucky in winter, but at the approach of spring returns northward.