Chickadee. 63 



until its young are fully able to cope with the realities of 

 life. One or more families will certainly be found 

 dwelling within the limits of the farm orchard. How- 

 ever, the chickadee is not fond of the society even of its 

 own kind in the nesting season, and displays no spirit of 

 community in choosing its home. 



There are occasional instances of its nesting among busy 

 scenes. Once I was agreeably surprised to chance upon a 

 chickadee industriously boring a hole in a fence-post 

 along the street where 1 passed every day as I walked to 

 my work. Though the outer layers of the wood in the 

 post were rather firm, the inner part was less tough, and 

 the small, sharp, conical bill of the determined little 

 laborer was making surprising headway in excavating the 

 desired site. I marked the progress of the work with in- 

 creasing interest, and four times a day I would quietly in- 

 spect the latest improvements in the forming cavity. In 

 less than a week the fastidious taste of the master builder 

 was satisfied, and the happy pair proceeded to take pos- 

 session, though they loitered several days after the ex- 

 cavation was finished before they moved in their eff'ects 

 and began housekeeping in earnest. Their newly-found 

 joy was short-lived, however ; for scarcely had the first 

 egg been deposited ere the prying eyes of small boys in 

 the neighborhood fell upon the exposed portal. On my 

 next visit I found the nest torn out and the excavation 

 wrecked — a sad warning to all chickadees and other birds 

 which place their trust unreservedly in humanity. 



The mother chickadee has a strong love for her home, 

 and she will usually remain with her treasures even to 

 her own hurt. One summer I was spending a day in 

 early May in the woods, and chanced to stroll into a piece 

 of swampy, dense timber bordering a creek. A cavity in 

 a low, decayed stump attracted my attention, and I 

 tapped vigorously below the small circular entrance, to 

 frighten and drive out any occupant of the recess, but no 

 chickadee appeared in response to my knocking. The 

 stump was so badly decayed that my thumping on the ex- 

 terior caused the wood' dust to drop from all sides of the 

 cavity into the bottom. Deciding that the woody tene- 

 ment was not occupied — for the season was almost past 



