370 NA T URE- S T UD Y 'RE T T£ W [ 1 3 :9— Dec. , 1 9 1 7 



dejected, and he opened his sunflower seeds with less vigor. 

 With all his pluck and independence, there was something about 

 Samm}' which made a strong appeal to our sympathies, and we 

 lost no opportunity to comfort him with butternuts, in his mo- 

 ments of dejection, when Jimmy was too much occupied with 

 his own affairs to interfere. We never knew Sammy well. Jimmy's 

 relentless hardness of heart and persistent discourtesy toward 

 him, combined with his own natural reserve, made intimacy 

 impossible. 



Fluffy, the beloved of our flock, was as sweet a little gray lady 

 as ever won the hearts of a large circle of devoted friends. She 

 was plump and round and daintily pretty. Her feathers seemed 

 finer and thinner, and her wings smaller than those of the other 

 chickadees. At times, a downy film of breast feathers almost 

 concealed her wings, making her look more like a fledgling than 

 an adult bird. 



She accepted our hospitality with gentle appreciation. She 

 soon became established as a member of our family circle, and 

 seldom left the balcony and her favorite window-shelf for more 

 than a short flight out into the wintry world. 



She often sat for a long time on a spra}^ of woodbine in the 

 sunshine, preening her feathers, and twittering softly to herself. 

 We never knew the variety and sweetness of chickadee language, 

 until we had lived close to Fluffy day after day. She ate her nuts 

 contentedly on the window-ledge, selected her seeds with delibera- 

 tion, and drank from her pan while we sat at the window with 

 books or work. She watched us with bright, friendh' eyes when 

 we opened the window to offer some tempting morsel of food, 

 or to fill her drinking-pan with fresh water; e\^en when it was 

 necessary to break or to remove the ice, as it often was, before 

 refilling her pan. Fluff}' did not fly away. Sometimes she would 

 peck the ice a few times, and look up at us with wise, trustful 

 eyes while she waited for assistance. 



She slept under the projecting cornice of the balconx', on a 

 narrow ledge, close to the screen. When vshe was settled for the 

 night, all that could be seen of her, was the tip of her tail, which 

 hung down against the netting. We alwa3'S looked for that 

 reassuring proof of her presence in the wintry dusk. 



One night, the precious gray atom was not in its accustomed 

 place. A diligent but cautious search with shaded candle and 



