96 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



dry. So the pair began work, and to watch them 

 was a pleasure that cannot be expressed in words. 

 Such devotion, such patience, such untiring energy, 

 and withal such intelligence, would have com- 

 manded the respect and attention of even the most 

 cold-hearted and indifferent person who claims 

 to care for nothing in nature besides man arid 

 his works. Many birds have I had the good 

 fortune to watch during their nest building, some- 

 times surreptitiously and sometimes openly, but 

 never was I impressed as I was by the Chicadees. 



Evidently moss was considered a most excellent 

 material with which to lay the foundation of the 

 nest. So Dee-dee, as I call Mrs. Chicadee (for it 

 was in that way she so often replied to her mate), 

 flew to the foot of a partly dead maple tree, whose 

 exposed roots were well covered with a thick coat 

 of short, curly and nearly dry moss. Then with 

 her entire energy and strength she commenced 

 gathering pieces of the moss in her tiny beak. 

 When she had as much as she could carry, she flew 

 to the nest hole, and, without hesitation, dis- 

 appeared through the entrance, to reappear after a 

 few moments, when she flew directly to the moss- 

 covered roots and once more began gathering 

 material. Just then Chicadee (her mate) , who had 

 been absent for some minutes, arrived, carrying in his 

 beak a small greenish caterpillar. Seeing his mate he 

 called, " Chicadee, chicadee-dee-dee." " Dee-dee," 

 in the softest of tones, came from the bird at the 

 foot of the partly dead maple, and he flew down 

 to tell her that he had brought food. She already 

 had several tufts of moss in her beak, and could not 



