138 



THE OOLOOIST 



from the window-sill, when out of the 

 room for a few minutes. 



Coming in from Glenwood woods the 

 morning of January 15th, a dead but 

 warm Chickadee was found on the 

 snow by the back porch; probably in 

 coming to the suet and box on the 

 porch, it accidentally struck against 

 the slate roof or tin eave-trough. On 

 bright, mild winter days the Chicka- 

 dees are never as much in evidence as 

 on cold or stormy ones, and on very 

 cold days their feathers seem very 

 much brighter. On very windy days 

 they are not about so much, as thev 

 do not seem to be able to fly so well 

 against a strong wind. -vVhen trying 

 to drive others away, the Chickadee 

 seems capable of erecting the black 

 feathers of its head a bit. The ques- 

 tion arose where they slept cold win- 

 ter nights? I had supopsed in hem- 

 lock and evergreen tres. but there is 

 a probability more often In tteser^ed 

 woodpecker holes and hollow trees. 



It was some time before it was dis- 

 covered the reason why the Chicka- 

 dee picked at the edges of the news- 

 paper in the basket, was to find the 

 meats they had hidden. Sometimes 

 the bird would lose its meat in the 

 rim of the basket, then it would start 

 pounding the basket with its bill. One 

 was seen extracting a meat from the 

 rim by going to the outside and peck- 

 ing in. Oftentimes they would cling 

 to the lower corner of the basket and 

 pick the meats out which had tumbled 

 between the paper and the basket. 



The Chickadee fed from my hand 

 January 28th; afterwards they would 

 come one after another and take 

 meats from my hands when standing 

 on the back porch. Only once or 

 twice could I prevail on them to eat 

 from the hand at the window. Once 

 they came to my hands for meats 

 forty times in five minutes, the same 

 bird often coming two or three times. 



carrying away the meat, hiding it and 

 immediately returning for another. 

 The Chickadees would often pick your 

 fingers before selecting a peanut; try- 

 ing to make out what such a warm 

 food-tray could be. At one time there 

 was a dozen or more Chickadees about 

 to eat. I finally had to stop allowing 

 them to eat from the hand, regularly, 

 because they were becoming so tame 

 and fearless, and a large barn tramp 

 cat would occasionally some to sit on 

 th porch M'hen I was not on guard. 

 Once the feet of one of the birds was 

 touched and almost its feathers, when 

 it was looking for meat. 



The 12th of February, 24 degrees 

 below zero; the Chickadee outside, 

 singing its spring sleepy song. The 

 23d, the Chickadees placing its nut 

 meat between the papers in the bas- 

 ket and hiding it so prettily. The 

 26th, a storm of sleet from the south- 

 west. "Hear, Hear, Hear, Hear" loud- 

 ly and plainly calls the Nuthatch from 

 the shelter side of the little leaning 

 pear tree. The following day it 

 thawed; loud sleepy song whistles of 

 the Chickadee answered by a "chick- 

 a-dee-dee-dee-dee." Watched the Chick- 

 adee in the basket picking upmeats 

 and "firing" them over its back until 

 the right one was found, which it took 

 to the edge of the basket and ate. 



The 3d of March the Chickadees all 

 alarm over something which had hap- 

 pened in the garden, and every one 

 was making a great ado in the grape- 

 vines, which lasted for a minute or 

 two before it was over. Over what? 

 Did the House Sparrow discover a hid- 

 den nut meat? The 8th, a Chickadee 

 picked up a meat, dropped it, picked 

 up another, dropped that as it was too 

 small, and finally selecting a large 

 meat, carried it away and hid it. Today, 

 the bird at the basket kept fluttering 

 its wings and scolding at another to 

 drive it away, which came to tlie edge 



