CHICKADEE. 





Ydnk! Yank I Yank! 



J J - JJ-.J-J 



YdnkL Ydnk-ee! Ydnk-ee! Ydnk! Ydnk! Ydnkt 



The tone is a clear falsetto, best imitated by pinching 

 the nose and singing the note staccato, with as much of 

 the nasal quality as one can put in it. That is about all 

 that can be said about this bird's remarkable voice ex- 

 cept that it is really much lower than that of any of 

 the woodland singers, and much nearer the sonorous 

 nasal twang of the 'way-down-East Yankee farmer's 

 wife when she lifts up her voice to call " Dan," the boy 

 who goes for the " Caows." 



But what a plucky little sprite this tiny, animated 

 bunch of gray feathers is, that he can brave our severe 

 northern winters with impunity I Even as I write this 

 book he has been cavorting about the trunk of the old 

 elm just beside the window, with the mercury indicating 

 a degree or two above zero! One wonders what he ex- 

 pected to find good to eat! 



The Chickadee is an all-the-year-around 

 bird, attractive in appearance, lively in 



Chickade* 



Parus 

 atricapillus 



L. 5.25 inches movement, and more than pleasing in the 

 All the year simplicity of its song. The top and the 

 back of the head well down are jet black; throat also 

 black; sides of the head and neck white; breast and un- 

 der parts graded from white to a huffish tone; back and 

 other parts an ashen gray, with the larger feathers 

 of wing and tail margined with white. The sexes do 

 227 



