CHICKADEE 67 



Chickadee : Parus atricapillus. 



Top of head, nape, and throat black ; rest of body gray ; under 

 parts lighter ; wing and tail feathers edged with white. Length, 

 about 5j inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern North America ; breeds 

 from southern Illinois and Pennsylvania northward to Labra- 

 dor, and southward along the Alleghanies to Korth Carolina ; 

 in winter migrates a short distance below the southern limit 

 of its breeding range. 



He who knows the Chickadee only by name is 

 an enviable person, for he has still before him 

 the initial pleasures of one 

 of the choicest of all bird 

 friendships. When seen 

 in a clearing as the pretty 

 bird flits from one tree to 

 another, his short wings 

 and long tail give him a IG ' ' 



111 n- ^ i i i Chickadee. 



bobby night by which we 



can recognize him at a distance. But when he 

 clings to the gray branches, his soft grayish suit 

 with its black cap and the trimmings that cut the 

 bird form hide him as well as the brown suit of 

 the little Wren protects him when hunting in the 

 dark crevices of the brown earth. In many re- 

 spects the Wren and Chickadee are as unlike as 

 their livery. This is especially true of their songs, 

 for while the Wren lives up to his family connec- 

 tions being related to the Catbird and Mocker 

 the Chickadee is no musician. Still every note 

 he utters is dear to his friends, and he has a varied 



