CAPABILITIES OF CHICKADESE 25 



was loud, urgent, and snapped out in a way 

 I never thought possible to the 



" Merry little fellow with the cheery little voice." 



The sermon, or lecture, was ended by one of 

 the audience interrupting with the plaintive 

 little two-note song of the family, upon which 

 they all broke out chattering again, and 

 scurried over the trees with a thousand 

 antics. 



So long as you do only what you have 

 done every day, though it be to sit within 

 three feet of their nest, most birds accept 

 you as a necessary evil, but if you vary from 

 your usual programme you shall have every 

 bird within sight and hearing excited, calling 

 in warning tones, anxious and angry " phit's," 

 "tut's," and " chack's " on every side. 



As the chickadees grew accustomed to my 

 presence they became more demonstrative 

 and voluble, showing me unsuspected cap- 

 abilities of chickadese. Such squeaks and 

 calls and remarkable notes, such animated 

 discussions, and such irrepressible baby-talk, 

 all in the husky voice of the family, were 

 altogether enchanting. One infant sometimes 



