11 



plant lice. How she could retain her grip upon them and 

 still "dee-dee" so vigorouslj' was a nij^stery, but the sound 

 poured forth as rapidly from between her closed mandibles 

 as it did later after she had deposited the food where it 

 belonged. 



Naturall_v, with a mother bird anxious to feed her babies, 

 to help us, it required but a few minutes to locate the nest 

 in a small dead tree beside the wall, ^^iolent as had been 

 her protestations when we first found her, she soon became 

 quite reconciled to our presence and. in a short time, was 

 one of the tamest birds with which I have had to deal. 



For the next three or four hours we camped out right be- 

 side her home and, from the protection of a small tent, made 

 a number of negatives of her and her mate going back and 



Fig. 4. FATHER CHICKADEE AND HIS LOAD. 



He was more shy than his mate and watched the tent closely 

 each time before entering. 



