60 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



spiders and thousand-legs make up the balance of its bill 

 of fare. It is especially fond of canker-worms, and its 

 presence in the orchard can be accounted for when these 

 pests are abundant. We see that the horticulturist has an 

 indefatigable ally in the person of this diminutive worker. 

 Not only among the trees, but among the bushes also, 

 where noxious insects are at work destroying the 

 growth of the various fruits in their seasons, we can 

 trace the valuable services of the wren. Destructive larvae 

 of moths and butterflies, gnats and flies, ants, beetles, and 

 bugs — especially the dreaded chinch -bugs — all are regu- 

 larly found in the bill of fare of our active little friend. 

 When the farmer evicts the wren from his porch or well 

 framework, because he objects to the litter of sticks 

 dragged to the place, he is driving away an ally with 

 whose services he can not well dispense. 



CHICKADEE. 



Another diminutive resident of the orchard, scarcely 

 larger than the house wren — a veritable hop-o'-my- 

 thumb — is the chickadee, or black-capped titmouse. Per- 

 haps no bird is a more common favorite among lovers of 

 bird-life, its trustfulness and love of companionship being 

 so great that it rarely fails to approach the observer when 

 its plaintive "pee-wee" is imitated. Especially in the 

 fall and winter is it easily called by these syllables, 

 whistled with the first considerably lengthened, and any 

 schoolboy whistler can easily catch the spirit of the call. 

 I remember an occasion when I was leaving my home to 

 go to the public square of my native village, I heard the 

 notes of a chickadee half a block away, and immediately 

 responded to the call, repeating it as I passed along the 

 street. Soon the little fellow was after me, and at one 

 time perched on a low twig of a small maple, so close that 

 1 involuntarily put5 out my hand to touch him. He fol- 

 lowed me until I passed upon the busier thoroughfare, and 

 only ceased to follow when I discontinued my call. 



Once upon a frosty morning, when I was on my way to 

 the school building where my vocation called me, I heard 



