THE OREGON CHICKADEE. 277 
squeak over the strange discovery; the Steller Jay takes notice and sidles over 
to spy upon the performance; while the distant-faring Crow swerves from his 
course and bends an inquiring eye toward the mystery. Dee-dee-dee says the 
Black-cap. A hundred beady eyes are bent upon you, trying to resolve your 
domino of corduroy or khaki. Caw says the Crow in comprehension, and you 
know that the game is up,—up for all but the Chickadee. He will stay and 
talk with you as long as you may endure to pucker your lips to his fairy 
lispings. 
It is no exaggeration to say that the “Swee-tee’’ note of the Chickadee, 
passably imitated, is the quickest summons in the bird-world. It is the 
open sesame to all woodland secrets. One drawback, however, attends 
its use: you cannot compass it when the air is chilly and the lips thick. 
Now, the eastern bird, (P. atricapillus) has a clear, high-pitched call-note, 
Swee-tee, or Swee-tec tee de which must be taken as 
the type of this genus oe | oF | ae E and the calls of the west- 
ern bird are best un- derstood by reference to 
this norm. In the song of occidentalis the first note of the type, “high C,” 
is oftenest repeated three or four times, and has a double character impossible 
to represent on 
paper; while the 
whole ends, or 
not, with the lower 
note of atricapil- 
lus. ‘These notes 
may be called the 
deo deo deo day 
series. In rare in- 
stances they  be- 
come a ravishing 
trill on high C, be- 
yond imitation or 
analysis. 
For the rest, 
Chickadee’s notes 
divide themselves 
into squeaks, vocal 
notes, and whis- 
teers OM et lye 
squeaks one is a 
very high-pitched, 
whinin ¢g note, Taken in Oregon. Photo by IV. L. Finley. 
| icl “] = 1 LADEN WITH DAINTIES. 
wich Closely re- OREGON CHICKADEE NEAR NEST. 
