276 



THE OREGON CHICKADEE. 



Chickadee refuses to look down t\>i" li>ng upnn the world; or, indeed, to 

 look at any one tiling from any one direction fur more tlian two consecutive 

 twelfths of a second. "Any old side up without care," is the label he bears; 

 and so with anything" he meets, be it a pine-cone, an alder catkin, or a Inig- 

 bearing branchlet. top- 

 side, bottomside, inside, 

 outside, all is right side 

 to the niml)le Chicka- 

 dee. Faith ! their little 

 brains must ha\'e spe- 

 cial gu}' - ropes a n d 

 stavs, else they would 

 have been spilled long 

 ago. the wa}- their own- 

 ers frisk about. Blind- 

 man's buff, hide-and- 

 seek, and tag are merry 

 games enough when 

 played out on one 

 plane, but when staged 

 in three dimensions, 

 witli a laliyrinth of in- 

 terlacing branches for 

 hazard, onl\- the blithe 

 bird whose praises we 

 sing could jjossibly 

 master their intricacies. 

 But Chickadee is as 

 confiding and as con- 

 fidence-inviting as he is 

 capable. It is precisely 

 because you babble all 

 your secrets to him at 

 the first breath that the 

 whole wood-side conies 

 to him for news. With 

 the fatuity of utter 

 trust he will interrogate 

 the fiercest-looking stranger; and the sound of the "szi'cctcc" call is the signal 

 for all birds to be alert. At the repetition of it the leaves begin to rustle, the 

 moss to sigh, and the log-heaps to give up their hidden store of sleepy W^reiis. 

 bashful Sparrows, and frowning Towhees. Juncoes simper and Kinglets 



Taken 



iicor Tacoma 



Photo by 

 the Author. 





\ 



.NEST -WU EGGS OF OREGON CHICKADEE. 



THE FRONT WALL OF THE CONTAINING STUMP HAS BEEN REMOVED. 



