Why the Chickadee Goes Crazy 



turned a dozen wheels around a twig that 

 served him for a trapeze. 



" Go to the south? " said he. " Not I ; I 

 am too well contented here ; and as for frost 

 and snow, 1 never saw any and have no faith 

 in them." 



But the Nuthatches and Kinglets were in 

 such a state of bustle that at length the Chicka- 

 dees did catch a little of the excitement, and 

 left off play for a while to question their friends ; 

 and they were not pleased with what they 

 learned, for it seemed that all of them were to 

 make a journey that would last many days, and 

 the little Kinglets were actually going as far as 

 the Gulf of Mexico. Besides, they were to 

 fly by night in order to avoid their enemies the 

 Hawks, and the weather at this season was sure 

 to be stormy. So the Chickadees said it was 

 all nonsense, and went off in a band, singing 

 and chasing one another through the woods. 



But their cousins were in earnest. They 

 bustled about making their preparations, and 

 learned beforehand what it was necessary for 

 them to know about the way. The great wide 

 river running southward, the moon at height, 



35 6 



