THE OREGON CHICKADEE. 



277 



squeak ()\er tlie strange iliscmery : the Steller Jay takes notice and sidles o\er 

 to spy upon the performance; wliile the distant-faring Crow swerves from his 

 course and bends an incjuiring eye toward tlie m^-stery. Dcc-dcc-dcc says the 

 Bkick-cap. A liundred lieady e_\'es are bent upon you. trying to resolve your 

 domino of corduro}' or khaki. Can' says the Crow in comprehension, and you 

 know that the game is up, — up for all but the Chickadee. He will stav and 

 talk with you as long as you nia_\- endure to pucker yciur lips to his fairy 

 lispings. 



It is no exaggeration to say that the "S^vcc-tcc" note of the Chickadee, 

 passably imitated, is the quickest summons in the bird-world. It is the 

 open sesame to all woodland secrets. One drawback, however, attends 

 its use: you cannot compass it when the air is chilly and the lips thick. 

 Now, the eastern bird, (P. atricapillus) has a clear, high-pitched call-note, 

 Sii'ce-tcc, or Swcc-tcc tec ::p _^ -^ _^^_^ which must be taken as 



^ ' — ' -—I and the calls of the west- 

 derstood bv reference to 



Ie^ 



or 



the type of this genus 

 ern bird are best un- 

 this niirm. In the song of occidciitalis the first note of the tvpe, "high C," 

 is oftenest repeated three or four times, and has a double character impossible 

 to represent on 

 paper: while the 

 w h o 1 e ends, or 

 not, with the lower 

 note of atricapU- 

 liis. These notes 

 may be called the 

 dco dco dco day 

 series. In rare in- 

 stances they be- 

 come a ravishing 

 trill on high C, be- 

 yond imitation or 

 analysis. 



For the rest. 

 Chickadee's notes 

 divide themselves 

 into squeaks, vocal 

 notes, and wliis- 

 1 1 e s. O f t li e 

 scjueaks one is a 

 very high-pitched, 



W h i n i n g note. Taken in Oregon. Photo by W. L. Finh-y. 



, . , 1 , L.ADEN WITH DAINTIES. 



which closely re- orecon chickadee near nest. 



