Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) : $b An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of AmericaAudubon, John James
Science
Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) : $b An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America
Audubon, John James
Birds -- North America
The young when fledged have the bill and claws black, the cere and feet
dull yellow; the upper parts brownish-grey, the scapulars and quills
tipped with white, the former also margined, with yellowish-brown;
the primary and secondary coverts are also tipped with white; the
smaller wing-coverts are brownish-black; the outer webs of all the
tail-feathers are more or less brownish-grey toward the end. The lower
parts are white, the feathers on the breast tinged with brownish-yellow
at the end, and with the shaft yellowish-brown. The lower wing-coverts
are all white.
CHESTNUT-BACKED TITMOUSE.
_PARUS RUFESCENS_, TOWNSEND.
PLATE CCCLIII. MALE AND FEMALE.
You have before you on the same plate three species of _Parus_, two of
which are new to science. Of specimens of these I obtained possession
in consequence of the purchase which I made of part of Dr TOWNSEND’s
hard-earned collection, made during his laborious expedition over the
Rocky Mountains, and the valley of the Columbia River. For an account
of the habits of those which are not found to the east of the Rocky
Mountains, I am indebted to my friends THOMAS NUTTALL, Esq., and J. K.
TOWNSEND, M. D. Mr NUTTALL’s notice respecting the present species is
as follows:—
“The Chestnut-backed Titmouse is seen throughout the year in the
forests of the Columbia, and as far south as Upper California, in all
which tract it breeds, forming, as I have some reason to believe, a
pendulous, or at least an exposed nest, like some of the European
species. It is made of large quantities of hypna and lichens, and
copiously and coarsely lined with deer’s hair and large feathers, such
as those of the Grouse and the Jay. They are commonly seen in small
flocks of all ages in the autumn and winter, when they move about
briskly, and emit a number of feeble querulous notes, after the manner
of the Chickadee, or common species, _Parus atricapillus_, but seldom
utter any thing like a song, though now and then, as they glean about,
they utter a _t’she_, _de_, _de_, or _t’dee_, _t’dee_, _dee_, their
more common querulous call, however, being like _t’she_, _dé_, _de_,
_vait_, _t’she_, _de_, _de_, _vait_, sometimes also a confused warbling
chatter. The busy troop, accompanied often by the common species, the
_Regulus tricolor_, and the small yellow-bellied _Parus_, are seen
flitting through bushes and thickets, carefully gleaning insects and
larvæ for an instant, and are then off to some other place around,
proceeding with restless activity to gratify the calls of hunger and
the stimulus of caprice. Thus they are seen to rove along for miles
together, until satisfied or fatigued, when they retire to rest in
the recesses of the darkest forests, situations which they eventually
choose for their temporary domicile, where in solitude and retirement
they rear their young, and for the whole of the succeeding autumn and
winter remain probably together in families. When the gun thins their
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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