20 



male bird came with a light, geometrid caterpillar. At 9.57$, 

 the male bird brought two caterpillars. At 9.57$, the female 

 brought one large, green caterpillar. At 10.02, the male brought 

 a pupa about like the codling moth. At 10.07, the male brought 

 a grasshopper with legs trimmed off. 



While the male was there the female came also with a bunch 

 of spiders' eggs, and, following the male, fed immediately. 

 We then removed the glass, and, reaching out, pushed down 

 the side of the nest so that an attempt could be made to photo- 

 graph the young, which were sunk down in the nest quite out of 

 sight from the camera. At this the young made a noise which 

 sounded much like the loud hissing of a snake, but proved to 

 be an attempt of all seven at once to scold in chickadee language. 



This disturbed the old birds, who showed some anxiety, 

 and did not feed again until, at 10.14, the female brought a 

 green caterpillar; at 10.17 a heavy team went by, but the, male 

 came again, at 10.19, with a large caterpillar, and again at 

 10.22 with smaller caterpillars. At this time the largest and 

 most active young bird, which had been quite restless and 

 several times had attempted to reach the entrance hole, made 

 a dash, and flew, at the first attempt, to a maple tree near by; 

 but failing to alight there, it fluttered on to a stone heap at the 

 foot of a pine tree some four rods away. In this remarkable 

 feat it no doubt was aided by the strong breeze then blowing. 

 This bird was later captured and returned to the box, but 

 refused to remain, and the second time flew to a pine tree 

 several rods farther off, reaching it in two flights. This diver- 

 sion somewhat interrupted the regularity of the feeding, as 

 the old birds devoted most of their attention to the young 

 truant. The female came to the nest once at 10.23 with ants, 

 plant lice and a spider, and the male came directly afterward 

 with similar food. At 10.24 the female came again, and at 

 10.24$ the male came; at 10.28i, the female; at 10.34, the 

 male. At this time the food, which came in large mouthfuls, 

 consisted mainly of ants and plant lice. At 10.36, as I leaned 

 from the window to put in the glass, the mother bird came 

 with her beak full of insect food and alighted at the entrance 

 hole. At this time one hand held the glass, while the other 

 rested on the box. The bird clung to the side of the box, re- 



