THE CHICKADEE 



By EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH 



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EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET No. 60 



Autumn has come — the waning of the year. The rising wind sighs among 

 the lofty pines, shaking out old and yellowing needles from each tufted twig; 

 and lightly they rain down, renewing the soft and springy carpet of the forest 

 floor. The somber sky, with leaden, hurrying clouds, portends the coming 

 storm; Jays cry mournfully; Crows fuss and caw; but here comes Chickadee, 

 flitting from twig to twig, as blithe and unconcerned as if 'twere always summer. 

 When cold winter winds rage in the forest and snow thickens the air. 

 Chickadee, merry and unafraid, hustles about amidst the storm, fills his 

 little stomach with insects, and, as the dreary night shuts down, hies him to 

 some snug, sheltered refuge where, warm and dry, he sleeps away the long 

 winter night. Nothing daunts him but the ice-storm, which crusts the trees, 

 and covers his food with a heavy crystal sheath. Then, indeed, he creeps to 

 shelter, wherever it may be found, and there he stays until the storm is spent. 

 Many children will recall the nursery rhyme about "Little Tommy Tittle- 

 mouse," who "lives in a little house." The Chickadee belongs to the Tit- 

 mouse family, is a near relative of the Tomtit, and, like him. 

 Family lives in a very little house. The Titmouse family consists of a 



large number of species, which are disseminated widely over 

 the northern hemisphere and are highly valued by mankind. 



Members of the Titmouse family range over North America, from the 

 northernmost hmits at which trees grow to the Gulf states and Mexico. 

 Throughout most of the forests of this country, some form of 

 Range the Chickadee may be found at some or all seasons of the year; 



but the subject of this sketch inhabits mainly the Canadian 

 and Transition zones of eastern North America, and, in the United States, 

 is confined chiefly to the North, breeding south to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, 

 Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and along the Appalachian Mountain chain 

 to North Carolina, wandering somewhat farther south in winter. 



In most of the northern United States, the Chickadee is the prevailing 

 woodland bird, particularly in winter. 



A hole in a decayed birch stump, two or three feet from the ground, a 



knot-hole in an old apple tree, in a fence-post, or in an elm, forty or fifty feet 



from the ground, the deserted home of some Woodpecker, a 



Nest small milk-can nailed up in a tree, or a nesting-box at some 



farmhouse window, may be selected by the Chickadee for its 



home. Commonly it digs out a nest-hole in the decaying stump of a birch or 



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