Parus rufescens, Towns.
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE.
Parus rufescens, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, II, 1837, 190.—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 371, pl. cccliii.—Ib. Birds Am. 1841, 158, pl. cxxix.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 394; Review, 83.—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859, 194 (nesting).—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 14, No. 86.—Dall & Bannister (Alaska).—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 47. Pœcile rufescens, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 230.
Sp. Char. Whole head and neck above, and throat from bill to upper part of breast, sooty blackish-brown. Sides of head and neck, upper part of breast, and middle of body, white; back and sides dark brownish-chestnut. Length, 4.75 inches; wing, 2.36; tail, 2.16.
Hab. Western United States, near Pacific coast.
Habits. The Chestnut-backed Titmouse was first obtained by Townsend on the banks of the Columbia River, and described in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy. It is a resident, throughout the year, of the forests of the Columbia, and is found throughout California. Like all of this familiar family, they may be seen in small flocks, of all ages, in the autumn and winter, moving briskly about, uttering a number of feeble querulous notes, after the manner of the atricapillus, but never joining in anything like the quaint and jingling song of that bird. They occasionally have a confused warbling chatter. These busy little groups may be often seen in company with the Parus occidentalis and the Regulus satrapa, moving through the bushes and thickets, carefully collecting insects, their larvæ and eggs, for a few moments, and then flying off for some other place. They are supposed to rear their young in the midst of the densest forests.
Mr. Nuttall states that when the gun thins their ranks the survivors display surprising courage and solicitude, following their destroyer with wailing cries, entreating for their companions.
Dr. Gambel found the young of this species in great abundance around Monterey in the fall and winter months. Dr. Heermann saw them in June, 1852, feeding their young in the vicinity of San Francisco, where, however, they are rare.
In Washington Territory, Dr. Cooper found this the most abundant species. It preferred the dense evergreens, where large parties could be found at all seasons busily seeking food among the leaves and branches, ascending even to the highest tops. They were usually in company with the Reguli and the other Titmice. Mr. Bischoff found them abundant at Sitka.
They nest, like all the others of this genus, in holes in soft decayed trunks and large limbs of trees a few feet from the ground. Their eggs are not as yet known.