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. 4½.
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.