24 UPON THE WOOD ROAD 



liant orange and black looking as much out 

 of place in the simplicity of the woods as a 

 fine lady in full dress. This was also the 

 haunt of a myrtle warbler in sombre black 

 and white, quaintly decorated with four 

 patches of bright yellow, and very much 

 concerned about a nest somewhere in that 

 lovely green world. 



In this nook I was visited daily by a 

 chickadee family, " droll folk quite inno- 

 cent of dignity," as Dr. Coues says, who 

 fascinated me with their pretty ways and the 

 many strange utterances of their queer husky 

 voices. At first, on finding an uninvited 

 guest in their quarters, they were very cir- 

 cumspect, and carried on their conversation 

 overhead in the oddest little squeaky tones, 

 not to be heard ten feet away. Once an 

 elderly bird got the floor and gave an ad- 

 dress, perhaps pointing out the dangers to 

 be feared from the monster sitting so silent 

 under the cedar. The burden of his talk 

 sounded to me like " chit-it-it-day ! day ! " 

 but there were varied inflections, and it evi- 

 dently meant something very serious, for 

 every twitter was hushed, while the discourse 



