BIRD PARADISE 249 



have occasion to note it down. My black cap 

 friends have no knowledge, I believe, of any other 

 manners but those that are recorded in the book 

 of life. If behavior carries the birds safely within 

 the house beautiful then chickadee has nothing to 

 fear. Among the saints of the bird host these 

 little fellows rank high ; in fact I see no way they 

 can be outranked. Their winter cottages are 

 nicely located in the hollow of a sheltering tree, 

 and in the cold season of the year they have few 

 enemies to trouble them. Sometimes several of 

 the little feljows occupy a single cottage — a stroke 

 of wisdom that enhances the comfort of the com- 

 mon house wonderfully. In the thicker part of 

 the old swamp these chickadee homes appear, and 

 sometimes when I drop in upon them the entire 

 village comes out to greet me. 



I have watched a little lately expecting some 

 winter visitors from the Arctic regions. One of 

 the most lively and cordial of them all is the lit- 

 tle pine siskin or pine-finch as it is sometimes 

 called. They are not regular visitors to our lo- 

 cality, but I see them nearly every winter. As 

 the name indicates they are lovers of the ever- 

 greens and spend most of their time in the pines 



