THE CHICKADEE 



and in autumn, when he attended you 

 with such charming familiarity, amusing 

 you with pretty acrobatic feats, as he 

 flitted ■ now before, now beside, now 

 above you, he hails you now, and asks 

 that hospitality be extended to him. 



Set forth a feast of suet on the win- 

 dow-sill, and he will need no bidding to 

 come and partake of it. How daintily 

 he helps himself to the tiniest morsels, 

 never cramming his bill with gross 

 mouthfuls as do his comrades at the 

 board, the nuthatch and the downy wood- 

 pecker ! They, like unbidden guests, 

 doubtful of welcome or of sufferance 

 even, make the most of time that may 

 prove all too brief, and gorge themselves 

 as greedily as hungry tramps ; while he, 

 unscared by your face at the window, 

 tarries at his repast, pecking his crumbs 

 with leisurely satisfaction. You half ex- 

 pect to see him swept from your sight 

 like a thistledown by the gusty blast, but 

 he holds bravely to his perch, unruffled 

 in spirit if not in feathers, and defies 

 his fierce assailant with his oft-repeated 

 challenge. 



As often as you spread the simple 

 285 



