BIRDS OF AMERICA 



In winter especially, the Chickadee is the 

 feathered small boy of the woods. Like the 

 Nuthatches and the Kinglets, freriuently his 

 companions, the Chickadee seems actually to 

 enjoy a snowstorm, and announces the fact by 

 language and actions the meanmg of which are 



ng by R. i. Brasiier 



CHICKADEE (J nat. size) 



unmistakable. In the bitterest weather he frolics 

 and frisks from tree to tree, happy and care-free, 

 laughing and joking. Mr. Burroughs says that 

 " the Chickadee has a voice full of unspeakable 

 tenderness and fidelity," which is very faithful to 

 the spirit of the utterance from which the bird is 

 named. This call is often abbreviated by the 

 omission of the first two syllables, but the result- 

 ing dec, dec, dec, is a very sweet and pleasing 

 little greeting. 



Many persons who are familiar with this call 

 are unaware that the Chickadee has two other 

 vocal performances which are widely different 

 from it. One is composed of two notes, and is 

 most frequently heard in the spring ; the other in- 

 volves three notes, and may be heard in the 

 spring or fall. The notes of both are whistled, 

 and their quality is, therefore, very difTereni 

 from that of the characteristic call. By some 

 ornithologists these notes are considered song- 

 like rather than call-like, though it might be 

 difficult to establish this distinction. At any 

 rate, the two-note utterance suggests the char- 

 acteristic little sigh of the Phosbe, from which, 

 however, it ditifers in that the tones are purer and 

 sweeter, are more deliberately executed, and are 

 cheerful and hopeful rather than somewhat 

 plaintive. 



The three-note group is less frequently lieard, 

 but generally is much the more musical and beau- 

 tiful of the two expressions. Curiously enough 

 these notes reproduce almost exactly the last three 

 notes of the phrase to which are set the words 



" I'm coming back to you," in the so-called 

 Hawaiian love song "Yakahula." Of course this 

 i.s a pure coincidence, as is the reproduction by 

 the Wood Thrush of the opening phrase of 

 Faust's " Garden Song to Marguerite." The 

 singularly sweet quality and bell-life resonance 

 of these notes combine to make them almost 

 startlingly' beautiful when they are sounded sud- 

 denly in the listening silence of a deep forest. 



Any one who has a musical ear, and can 

 whistle in a high key, can easily imitate these 

 songs; and, if he will sit still as he does so, he is 

 likely to have the pleasure of bringing the birds 

 to within a few feet of him. Indeed, the Chick- 

 adee is one of the most trustful of birds, and by 

 the exercise of a little patience one may often 

 induce the little fellow to take food from the 

 hand or even from between the lips. 



While incubating, the Chickadee has an 

 amusing way of trying to frighten away in- 

 truders. Mr. Burroughs records the following 

 instance of that performance : " One day a lot 

 of Vassar girls came to visit me and I led them 



Phrjt.i by A. A. Allen 



CHICKADEE 

 At its nest hole in a sumach stub 



out to the little sassafras to see the Chickadee's 

 nest. The sitting bird kept her place as head 

 after head, with its nodding plumes of millinery, 

 appeared above the opening of her chamber, and 

 a pair of inquisitive eyes peered down upon her. 

 But I saw she was getting ready to play her 



