bottom he makes a little round pocket and 



lines it with the very softest material. When 



one finds such a nest, with five or six white t^'deetiee-IoAhsis 



eggs delicately touched with pink, and a pair "^ 



of chickadees gliding about, half fearful, half 



trustful, it is altogether such a beautiful little 



spot that I know hardly a boy who would be 



mean enough to disturb it. 



One thing about the nests has always puz- 

 zled me. The soft lining has generally more 

 or less rabbit fur. Sometimes, indeed, there 

 is nothing else, and a softer nest one could 

 not wish to see. But where does he get it .? 

 He would not, I am sure, pull it out of Br'er 

 Rabbit, as the crow sometimes pulls wool 

 from the sheep's backs. Are his eyes bright 

 enough to find it, hair by hair, where the 

 wind has blown it, down among the leaves? 

 If so, it must be slow work; but Chickadee 

 is very patient. Sometimes, in spring, you 

 may surprise him on the ground, where he 

 never goes for food ; but at such times he is 

 always shy, and flits up among the birch 

 twigs, and twitters, and goes through an 

 astonishing gymnastic performance, to hold 



