THRUSH COUSINS 



fails to move the shutter, and I very much prefer a 

 thread. Quite early in spring friend Nutty ignores our 

 charity and makes a nest in a hollow limb of some 

 shade or orchard tree, where it raises a family of from 

 five to eight. 



The sub-family of titmice are now classed with the 

 nuthatch sub-family in the family Paridce, or titmice, 

 and well so, for they all have much in common in their 

 mode of life. 



Our common little Chickadee is enough to make us 

 think well of this group. They are so animated and 

 interesting that it is a delight to have them about our 

 homes in the winter, feeding on the suet. Everyone 

 ought to tie or nail up a piece of fat meat for the birds, 

 out of reach of cats, and as an investment it pays big 

 dividends in the pleasure which their company in the 

 long, cold season affords. Like the nuthatch they are 

 easy to photograph, and like them they forsake us with 

 the passing of the snow, and, betaking themselves to 

 the woods and swamps, in May they excavate a tiny 

 burrow in a rotten stub, in my experience generally a 

 birch, which is very soft. Like the nuthatches also 

 they rear large families, and it is remarkable how the 

 young birds escape being smothered, for they fill the 

 hole about solid full when they are w^ell grown. If we 

 take them out it is a real problem how to get them all 

 in again. 



Toward the end of winter the Chickadee has a fine 

 trick of fooling people by a note which they think is 



243 



