THE CHICKADEE 57 



yet arrived, nor would she have shed all these feath- 

 ers at the same moment. There could therefore be 

 only one interpretation of their presence. Some foe 

 probably a Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk, since 

 the predaceous mammals for the most part hunt at 

 night, when the Chickadee would be snugly sleep- 

 ing in her nest had made a dash and grasped her 

 by the tail, which she had sacrificed in escaping. A 

 moment later the theory was supported by the ap- 

 pearance of a subdued-looking Chickadee, sans tail, 

 and I congratulated her on her fortunate exchange 

 of life for a member which of late had not been very 

 decorative, and of which, in any event, Nature would 

 have soon deprived her. 



The young proved to be nearly ready to fly, and, 

 carefully removing the front of their log cabin, a 

 sight was disclosed such as mortal probably never 

 beheld before and Chickadee but rarely. 



Six black-and white heads were raised and six 

 yellow-lined mouths opened in expressive appeal for 

 food. But this was not all ; there was another layer 

 of Chickadees below how many it was impossible 

 to say without disentangling a wad of birds so com- 

 pact that the outlines of no one bird could be dis- 

 tinguished. A piazza, as it were, was built at the 

 Chickadees' threshold in the shape of a perch of 

 proper size, and beneath, as a life net, was spread a 

 piece of mosquito bar. Then I proceeded to indi- 

 vidualize the ball of feathers ; one, two, three, to 

 seven were counted without undue surprise, but 

 when an eighth and ninth were added, I marveled 

 at the energy which had supplied so many mouths 

 with food, and at the same time wondered how many 



