Farewells and Welcomes 



or upside down. He was a little animated bunch 

 of black and white feathers, not much bigger than 

 Jenny Wren. The top of his head, back of his 

 neck and coat were shining black. The sides of 

 his head and neck were white. His back was ashy. 

 His sides were a soft cream-buff, and his wing and 

 tail feathers were edged with white. His tiny bill 

 was black, and his little black eyes snapped and 

 twinkled in a way good to see. Not one among 

 all Peter's friends is such a merry-hearted little 

 fellow as Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Merriment 

 and happiness bubble out of him all the time, no 

 matter what the weather is. He is the friend of 

 everyone and seems to feel that everyone is his 

 friend. 



"I've noticed," said Peter, "that birds who do 

 not sing at any other time of year sing in the 

 spring. Do you have a spring song, Tommy 

 Tit?" 



"Well, I don't know as you would call it a song, 

 Peter," chuckled Tommy. "No, I hardly think 

 you would call it a song. But I have a little 

 love call then which goes like this : Phoe-be ! 

 Phoe-be !" 



It was the softest, sweetest little whistle, and 



Tommy had rightly called it a love call. "Why, 



I've often heard that in the spring and didn't 



know it was your voice at all," cried Peter. "You 



[281] 



