A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



rapidly, and from a small beginning all the 

 parks of the country could be stocked. The 

 chickadees rear two broods in a season, usually 

 eight in a brood. These birds hunt the trees 

 for insect life, while the undesirable alien 

 hunts the streets for indigested food. Con- 

 trast the quarrelsome " chirps " of the one, 

 with the cheery " chickadee, chickadee " of 

 the other. Then the mating-song. How it 

 would fit into the glorious spring mornings. 

 This song is called the " phebe note of the 

 chickadee " by many writers. The only rea- 

 son that explains why this name clings to the 

 chickadee's song, is that some early writer 

 adopted it, and later writers followed suit 

 without taking pains to investigate. There 

 is as great difference between the two as there 

 is between black and white. The song of the 

 phebe-bird is in two notes, delivered in a 

 querulous, plaintive tone, while that of the 

 chickadee is in three notes, as loud and cheery 

 as the whistle of WhiUier's " Barefoot boy." 

 " Tea's ready," it seems to say, with the 

 accent on the first syllable. 

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