No. 4.] BIRDS ON THE FARM. 131 



clung to the side of the box, regarding me at first with 

 some suspicion, but soon went in and fed tlie young a laro-e, 

 green caterpillar Avhich she had brouglit. While I kept 

 this position both birds came again, the female going in 

 at once and feeding the young as before ; but the male 

 alighted on top of the box, scanning my face with his bright 

 dark eyes for some time before he would trust himself to 

 enter. The young were evidently fully fledged and ready 

 to fly. Two of them had already flown and had been re- 

 turned to the box. The old birds stopped feeding them 

 and began to call. They were answered by the young. 

 At this moment the old birds flew, one to the box and the 

 other to the edge of the roof overhead, while the young all 

 sprang out in quick succession, all but two of them alight- 

 ing on my arms, head or shoulders, much to the delight of 

 the children, who were Avatching from below. The old 

 birds came to me and piloted the young to the branches of 

 a pear tree near by. This happy family remained about 

 the vicinity for some time, and probably still forms a part 

 of one of the flocks of chickadees now in the neiijhborhood. 



This account is given with all its details to show how' 

 readily the chickadee wdll accept om* hosi^italitv, and how 

 valuable an acquisition it Avould be to the birds which nest 

 about the farm buildings, and with the hope that others 

 may be led to experiment with it in the same way. This 

 family of chickadees and a family of bluebirds, that was 

 raised in a box on the apple tree near by, kept the fruit 

 and shade trees near the house quite free from injurious 

 insects. A nest of the tent caterpillar which appeared on 

 the apple tree Avhere the bluebirds built their nest was 

 rifled of its contents. Two young apple trees that swarmed 

 with plant lice were almost entirely cleared, and suffered 

 no injury ; while two on the hill beyond the garden, where 

 the chickadees did not go, suffered much from these pests, 

 and finally died. With eleven hungry nestlings to be fed, 

 the few canker worms hatched from the eggs overlooked 

 by the birds were soon disposed of. 



Now, let us return to the garden. The care of a garden 

 seldom fails to banish sleep in the morning. The least 



