374 



Bird -Lore 



in his water-soaked plumage. I gave him 

 any insects I could find, but I think it 

 must have been impossible for him to find 

 food for so many little ones in that cold, 

 wet weather. This was probably when 

 most of the young died. They all remained 

 in the neighborhood for a few days after 

 the young left the nest; then they dis- 

 appeared, and we did not see 'Chickadee' 

 again until late in September. He was 

 very neatly dressed when he returned, 

 quite a different-looking bird than the 



liked to feed him, when they came to 

 spend the day at our house. The picture 

 shows a little niece of mine, just giving 

 him a peanut. I tamed several more 

 Chickadees that winter; eight out of 

 twelve, as nearly as we could count, were 

 quite tame. 



It was rather amusing when I took the 

 22 rifle to shoot rabbits! After the first 

 shot was fired, I was attended by several 

 Chickadees. They made aiming almost 

 impossible, for every time I raised the 



i*. |fTh 



v -%%$ ■'■■ •■! I 



A FRIENDLY CHICKADEE 



ragged one we used to feed in the 

 spring, but unmistakably the same in 

 manner. 



He' grew very tame that winter, and 

 would often swing head downward from 

 the peak of my cap, or cling to my lips 

 and peck at my teeth. If I held my hand 

 out with nothing in it, he would always 

 hop to my thumb, and peck the nail two 

 or three times, then hold his head on one 

 side, and look into my eyes, as if to ask 

 me what I meant. 



My sister's and brother's little children 



rifle, one or two birds would perch on the 

 barrel completely hiding the sights. 



In 1907, 'Chickadee' and his mate nested 

 in a new box, near the old nesting-site; 

 this, I believe, was quite successful. In 

 1908, they nested somewhere near, but I 

 could not find the nest. In 1909, one of 

 my boxes was used with success; but in 

 1910 they nested in a tree half a mile 

 away; this nest was destroyed. In 191 1, 

 cne of my boxes was used, and the young 

 were nearly ready to fly when a sad 

 accident happened to 'Chickadee.' Some 



