THE CHICKADEE 53 



my intentions were of the best, and promised to 

 return and secure her portrait at the first oppor- 

 tunity. 



Four days later I set up my camera before the 

 door to the Chickadee's dwelling, and, without at- 

 tempting to conceal it, attached thread to the shutter 

 and retreated in the undergrowth to a distance of 

 about twenty-five feet. 



After having had most discouraging experiences 

 with several birds, who had evidently regarded the 

 camera as a monster of destruction, and had refused 

 to return to their nests as long as the evil eye of the 

 lens was on them, it was consoling to find a bird 

 who had some degree of confidence in human nature 

 as represented by photographic apparatus. 



It is true that the female and throughout this 

 description I assume that the bird with much-worn 

 plumage was of this sex promptly left the stub at 

 my approach ; but when I retired to the undergrowth 

 there was no tiresome wait of hours while the bird, 

 flitting from bush to bush, chirped suspiciously, but 

 almost immediately she returned to her home. 27 The 

 camera was examined, but clearly not considered 

 dangerous, its tripod sometimes serving as a step to 

 the nest entrance. The click of the shutter, how- 

 ever, when an exposure was made as the bird was 

 about to enter its dwelling, caused some alarm, and 

 she flew back to a neighboring tree, and for some 

 time hopped restlessly from limb to limb. 



The male, who had previously kept in the back- 

 ground, now approached, and, as if to soothe his 

 troubled mate, thoughtfully gave her a caterpillar. 

 She welcomed him with a gentle, tremulous flutter- 



