THE APPLE MOTH. 121 



pended string ; but it was perfectly at home, hardly even fluttering to maintain its 

 position, and there it remained pecking away among the buds at the extreme end of 

 the shoot, apparently in pursuit of plant lice so often found in just such places. We 

 are told that the " tender mercies of the wicked are cruel ;" my tender mercies over- 

 came the cruel on this occasion ; and although I wanted to know exactly what the 

 bird could find there to eat, the gun would not point in that direction. 



Nov. i 5. I have never before noticed the Chi'ck-a-dees so numerous as this fall. 

 Shot one to-day ; it had eaten four small seeds, almost^, as hard as gravel stones, and 

 quite a number of the pupse of very small beetles, such as take shelter under moss 

 and old bark on trees. 



Jan. i , 1 865. For a month past the Chick-a-dees could be seen in the morn- 

 ings on the Elm trees of this city always on the slender twigs, and busily searching 

 round the buds. The weather seems to make no difference. The gentle, plaintive 

 call by which they keep in company could be heard every morning, even in the most 

 pitiless storms. In the evenings they could be seen congregating about the evergreen 

 trees. 



For several mornings in succession I noticed that the piazza was strewn with 

 the cocoons and broken pupa cases of the caterpillars that were so numerous in Sep- 

 tember ; sweep them off, and soon they would be there again. It was the work of 

 the Chick-a-dees. The piazza is a high one, and extends on three sides of the house. 

 Hundreds of caterpillars formed their cocoons in the chinks and crevices of the ceil- 

 ing, and there these little birds found them. I hung out pieces of fat pork, and bread 

 and butter, and they tasted moderately ; but as soon as the pupse of these caterpillars 

 were all consumed, my kind of food was neglected. 



March i . I have seen a small party of the Chick-a-dees on the Elm trees again 

 to-day, the first for several weeks. They were examining the buds. 



