Mr. Chickadee 107 



ing for the log house, and scattered them at his 

 feet and they came in flocks, Adolph calling them 

 "Frenchman's wood chicks." Maybe Adolph 

 was a poet for this sounds something like it. I 

 asked him where they came from. He did not 

 answer at first but after awhile, with a far-away 

 look on his face, he pointed to the sky and said: 

 "When Frenchman build little house in woods, 

 Mighty God send blessings by Chicks. See, easy 

 'nuff." 



In early life, in common with so many foolish 

 people, I took it for granted that something of 

 value may be learned about birds in the study of 

 stuffed specimens. In nearly the first case was a 

 stuffed Chickadee, possibly one of the very 

 messengers that had brought a blessing from 

 "Mighty God" to the Frenchman's cabin so many 

 years ago. It was rather an unfortunate experi- 

 ence for me, from that moment to the present 

 time I feel about the whole wretched business as 

 I imagine a devotee of religion would feel if he 

 entered a cathedral, of his own faith, and found 

 Cherubs pinned to the walls like butterflies in 

 cases. 



Caesar dead and Caesar alive are a million miles 

 apart. The Chickadee in his natural environ- 

 ment, very much alive, with his little song so full 

 and running over with cheer, and the pitiful 

 stuffed specimen, named and numbered and sur- 



