Chickadee 
July he is busy with domestic cares in the gray birches 
of the woodlot; from August to December he and his 
family come hunting quietly and sociably as a little 
flock among the trees and bushes of the farm ; and 
from then on he is back for his winter meals at “ The 
Lilac.” 
Is it any wonder that he was the first bird I ever 
felt personally acquainted with, and the first bird my 
children knew? That early acquaintance, however, 
was not due to his abundance and intrusion, as it 
might be with the English sparrow, but rather due 
to the cheerful, confiding, sociable spirit of the little 
bird. He drops down and peeps under your hat-brim 
to see what manner of boy you are, and if you are 
really fit to be abroad in this world, so altogether 
good — for chickadees. 
He has a mission to perform besides the eating 
of eggs and grubs of the pestiferous insects. This 
destruction he does that the balance of things may 
be maintained out of doors. He has quite another 
work to do, which is not economic, and which, in 
nowise, is a matter of fine feathers or sweet voice, 
but simply a matter of sweet nature, vigor, and con- 
centrated cheerfulness. 
79 
