222 BIRD PARADISE 



they sought safety was most amusing. Each 

 young fellow fastened his teeth firmly in the 

 mother's side — holding on stoutly while she 

 jumped rapidly away. At the sides of the stone 

 piles I frequently find evidence that shows the 

 ranks of these little creatures decimated by the 

 tragedy of a night-time. A strolling fox or 

 skunk, lying in wait, has taken his prize at the 

 door of the fellow's humble dwelling, feasting 

 upon it in sight and sound of the frightened 

 household. Ah, how widely this condition of 

 creature life reaches ! Hardly a life in the wide 

 domain of being that continues its existence but 

 uses this means. To be requires something not 

 to be, and who shall say that it is not the saving 

 of all ? 



The chickadee always behaves well, but some- 

 way I think he is at his best in the winter. The 

 little fellows take possession of my lawn trees — 

 apparently just as happy in the snow and cold as 

 when the flowers bloom. While they are socially 

 inclined, I rarely ever see more than five or six 

 in a flock. As architects, they rank with their 

 near relatives, the woodpeckers. In the cold 

 weather their snug homes in the trunk of the 



