i.iNXJ THREE CHICKADEE FRIENDS 369 



None of otir books nor of our more exj^erienced bird-loving friends 

 ]iad spoken of such an amazing feat. Could it have been a mis- 

 take? The\' who had not seen it, were inclined to believe that 

 it was. As we waited at the window, back came a Chickadee, 

 turned his tail at a sharp angle, pressed his breast against the board 

 and grasped his walnut with both feet; he has even been known 

 to turn and to lie on his side while ]3icking out crumbs of nut 

 from the shell. Once he stood on one foot and steadied himself 

 l3y clinging with a cold little claw to the finger of a friend, who was 

 lr\'ing to help him hold his nut. 



All day the}' came and went, and soon became so tame, that 

 we could open the windows without disturbing them. They 

 ate from our hands withotit haste, or fear, and once, when a 

 hand was placed too high to be reached conveniently while the 

 bird stood on the table he spread his wings, flew up a few inches, 

 and dropping down as gently as the snow flakes which surrounded 

 him he stood with cold little feet on the waiting hand. 



In the early days of our acquaintance we spoke of them as 

 the Chickadees, but as we became more intimate with the psr- 

 sonality of each, they seemed to us as unlike in character and 

 appearance as three children, and names became a necessity: 

 so we called them Jimmy, Samm\^ and Fluffy. 



Jimmy was an energetic, athletic, chickadee person, with 

 sur]:)rising strength of bill and claw. When especially vigorous 

 strokes were heard through closed windows, we knew that it was 

 he who was opening his sunflower seeds. He was handsome, 

 slender, and extremely neat. He never appeared in public 

 with a single feather displaced. His bearing was confident 

 and fearless at all times. His disposition, however, was less 

 pleasing than his appearance, and we regretfully admitted that 

 he was not generous in his treatment of his two companions: 

 still with all his obvious faults, he was most lovable and winsoms. 

 Samm}' was interesting rather than handsome. He was 

 slightly larger than Jimmy, less self-assertive, and far more 

 indifferent about his appearance. Perhaps his coat was more 

 difficult to keep in good condition. He never looked well groomed, 

 and one of his long tail feathers was broken at the end : we hoped 

 that Jimmy was not in any way responsible for this mishap. 

 vSammy was reserved, and silent, seeming to expect little com- 

 panionship from the other chickadees. In repose, he looked 



