The Chickadee 21 



his spirits seem to go up the higher. Danghng 

 like a circus acrobat on the cone of some tall 

 pine tree; standing on an outstretched twig, 

 then turning over and hanging with his black- 

 capped head downward from the high trapeze ; 

 carefully inspecting the rough bark on the twigs 

 for a fat grub or a nest of insect eggs, he is con- 

 stantly hunting for food and singing grace be- 

 tween bites. His day, day, day, sung softly 

 over and over again, seems to be his equivalent 

 for " Give us this day our daily bread." 



How delightfully he and his busy friends, who 

 are always within call, punctuate the snow- 

 muffled, mid-winter silence with their ringing 

 calls of good cheer! The orchards where chicka- 

 dees, titmice, nuthatches, and kinglets have 

 dined all winter, will contain few worm-eaten 

 apples next season. Here is a puzzle for your 

 arithmetic class: If one chickadee eats four 

 hundred and forty-four eggs of the apple tree 

 moth on Monday, three hundred and thirty- 

 three eggs of the canker worm on Tuesday, and 

 seven hiindred and seventy-seven miscellaneous 

 grubs, larvae, and insect eggs on Wednesday and 

 Thursday, how long will it take a flock of 

 twenty-two chickadees to rid an orchard of 

 every -unspeakable pest? One very wise and 

 thrifty fruit grower I know attracts to his trees 

 all the winter birds from far and near, by keep- 

 ing on several shelves nailed up in his orchard, 



