98 MHiTII AMERICAN BIRDS. 



these lf)calities, not. only appoarinj:^ familiarly around the dwellings in the 

 winter season, but also occasionally breeding in oj)en and exi)osed places. 

 A hollow jjost of a fence in the midst of open cultivated fields, a decayed 

 stump near the side of a public highway, a hollow log in a frec^uented farm- 

 yard, and even the side of an inhabited dwelling, are localities these birds 

 have been known to select in which to rear their young. In the winter 

 they not unfreciuently extend their visits, in search of fooil, into the very 

 heart of-large and crowded cities, where they seem as much at home and as 

 free from alarm as in the seclusion of the forest, searching every crack where 

 insect larvie or eggs can be hid. On one occasion a pair had built its nest 

 over a covered well which connects with the dwelling by a side door, through 

 which water was drawn at all hours of the day by means of buckets and a 

 rope, the wheel for which was in close proximity to their nest. They mani- 

 fested, however, no uneasiness, and even after the young were ready to fly, 

 the whole family would return to the ])lace for shelter at night and during 

 inclement weather. 



Their courage and devotion to their vouni? is a remarkable trait with the 

 whole race, and with none more than with the present species. On one 

 occasion a Black-Cap was seen to fly into a rotten stump near the roadside 

 in Brookline. The stump was so much decayed that its top was readily 

 broken off and the nest exj)osed. The mother refused to leave until forcibly 

 taken off by the hand, and twice returned to the nest when thus removed, 

 and it was only by holding her in the hand that an opportunity was given 

 to ascertain there were seven young birds in her nest. She made no com- 

 plaints, uttered no outcries, but resolutely and devotedly thrust herself be- 

 tween her nestlings and the seeming danger. When released she immedi- 

 ately flew back to them, covered them under her sheltering wings, and looked 

 up in the face of her tormentors ^vith a tj[uiet and resolute courage that could 

 not be surpassed. 



The nest of the Chickadee is usually a warm and soft felted mass of the 

 hair and fur of the smaller (piadrupeds, dow^ny feathers, fine dry grasses and 

 mosses, lining the cavity in which it is placed and contracting it into a deep 

 and purse-like opening if the cavity be larger than is necessary. Usually the 

 site selected is already in existence, and only enlarged or altered to suit the 

 wishes of the pair. But not unfrequently, at some pains, they will exca- 

 vate an opening for themselves, not only in decaying wood, but even into 

 limbs or trunks that are entirely sound. 



These birds in winter collect around the camps of the log-cutters, become 

 very tame, and seek on all occasions to share with their occupants their food, 

 often soliciting their portion with plaintive tones. Though nearly om- 

 nivorous in the matter of food, they prefer insects to everything else, and 

 the amount of good conferred by them on the farmers and the owners of 

 woodlands in the destruction of insects in all their forms — egg, cattirpillar, 

 larva, or imago — must be very great. No chrysalis is too large to resist 



