oyo MICHIGAN IJIRD LIFE. 



and has recorded among tlie results some very interesting facts (Auk, 

 XV, 145-155). He found that less than 40 percent of the food was vege- 

 table, the remainder consisting of insects, while the stomachs of nine birds 

 taken in spring contained nothing but insects. Among the seeds seaten 

 were a few bits of oats, a single seed of the bitter-weed (Ambrosia) and 

 a few other bits of vegetable matter. Eggs of bugs (hemiptera), together 

 with some' adults, formed by far the greater part of the winter food, with 

 beetles and lepidoptera next. In the spring adult beetles and adult lepid- 

 optera were more important. The number of plant-louse eggs was not 

 so noticeable as we should have expected, but in four stomachs the scales 

 of the oyster-shell bark-louse were found, the total number of scales being 

 77, each of which had probably covered fifty or seventy-five eggs. 



In this connection we might add that twice during the spring of 1906 

 the writer observed the Chickadee eating scale insects, once the elm scale 

 (Chionaspis americanus) and again a species of Lecanium which is common 

 on the basswood. In both cases the Chickadee was so intent upon his 

 work that he refused to leave until approached within arm's length, and 

 then returned to finish his meal as soon as the intruder withdrew. It is 

 more than prol)able that it eats to a greater or less extent all the common 

 scale insects which occur on our forest trees and fruit trees, and Mr. E. 

 H. Forbush, State Ornithologist of Massachusetts, has demonstrated by 

 actual experiments that fruit trees to which the Chickadees are baited in 

 winter are never attacked to any serious extent by the canker-worm, 

 tent caterpillar, or other fruit tree pests which may ravage orchards in 

 the immediate vicinity. By hanging up bones to which a little meat 

 adheres, and here and there a bit of suet or fat fresh pork, these little l)irds 

 may be attracted to any orchard during the cold weather and will come 

 day after day for months, not only feasting upon the food so provided, 

 l)ut in the intervals gleaning from the branches and twigs of surrounding 

 trees every insect and egg hidden there. 



Normally the Chickadee nests in deserted woodpecker holes, cavities 

 in decayed limbs or rails, or similar hollows in fence posts, but in many 

 cases it has been induced to accept artificial nesting places, and occasionally 

 it occu2)ies bird boxes intended for wa-ens or Bluebirds. With a little 

 forethought and care anyone might persuade the Chickadee to nest in 

 his own orchard or garden, and by judicious feeding in winter might do 

 much to protect his trees and shrubbery from some of the more serious 

 insect pests. Frequently it digs the hole for its own nest, choosing a 

 partly decayed stub or branch and pecking out the hole much as a wood- 

 pecker does, but with infinitely more pains and patience. It is not able 

 to excavate sound wood, but in wood which is just beginning to decay it 

 often makes a very neat hole, which serves for a year or two. In the bot- 

 tom of the hole it builds a very compact and nicely felted nest of fur of 

 various kinds, feathers, moss, and cottony plant fibres, and lays from six 

 to ton nearly white, brown-spotted eggs, which average .60 by .47 inches. 



The eggs are usually laid, in the southern part of the state, during the 

 first half of May, and from one to three weeks later in the northern sections. 

 The Chickadee is often said to rear two broods, but we have no data which 

 warrant such an assertion. The bird escapes many of the enemies which 

 pillage the nests of other species, but it must meet with misfortune occasion- 

 ally and in such cases a second nest may ])e prepared and another attempt 

 be made to raise a brood. 



