II 



THE CHICKADEE 



THE chickadee, like many other birds, takes 

 his name from his notes ; from some of his notes, 

 that is to say, for he has many others besides his 

 best-known chick-a-dee-dee-dee. His most musi- 

 cal effort, regarded by many observers as his 

 true song, sounds to most ears like the name 

 Phoebe, a clear, sweet whistle of two or three 

 notes, with what musical people call a minor in- 

 terval between them. It is so strictly a whistle 

 that any boy can imitate it well enough to de- 

 ceive not only another boy, but the bird himself. 



In late winter and early spring, especially, 

 when the chickadee is in a peculiarly cheerful 

 frame of mind, it is very easy to draw him out 

 by whistling these notes in his hearing. Some- 

 times, however, the sound seems to fret or anger 

 him, and instead of answering in kind, he will 

 fly near the intruder, scolding dee-dee-dee. 



He remains with us both summer and winter, 

 and wears the same colors at all seasons. 



