39- 



]VA T URE-S TUDY RE VIE' 



[13:9 — Dec, 1917 



Another little chickadee that we came to know very well was 

 our little lame chickadee, who had but one foot. We called him 

 "Little Lame Chick." He was one of our first visitors, and earlv 

 in the fall, when we were offering them many kinds of food, I 

 put a piece of raw pie crust around a branch of the little pine tree. 

 This he enjoyed immensely though I scarcely believe he had been 

 brought up to have pie for breakfast. He soon learned to enjoy 

 the peanuts and you would have enjoyed seeing him hop up 

 and tuck the nut under his one foot so he could eat it. One 

 very cold day soon after Christmas, the little chickadees were 

 holding first one foot then the other up under their feathers 

 to keep them warm. And what was poor "Little Lame Chick" 

 to do? He tried to huddle down and cover his one foot, but it 

 was getting very cold. As he tried to hold to a slanting branch 

 on top of the shelter he kept sliding down. He couldn't hang on. 

 Then he tried another perch, but fell oft' from this, and fluttered 

 his wings. I went out carefulh^ and with a black cloth in my 

 hand wrapped him up. He seemed surprised, but did not try 

 to get away. I brought him into the house and kept him wTapped 

 up for a little while, then loosened the covering and let him fly 

 around. He was bewildered at his strange surroundings but 

 not frightened. He alighted on the picture frames and curtain 

 rods. After about half an hour, we pulled down the shades and 

 opened one of the dining room windows at the top. He flew to 

 the window top, looked out, flew back to a picture frame to 

 think about it, then decided to go out and awa}^ he flew. In 

 ten minutes he was back on the balcony peacefully eating. 



LittU 



Photo by Anna A. Wright 

 Lame Chick 



