FAR AND NEAR 



explosion at the bottom of the cavity, when the peep- 

 ing girl jerked her head quickly back, with the ex- 

 clamation, " Why, it spit at me ! " The trick of the 

 bird on such occasions is apparently to draw in its 

 breath till its form perceptibly swells, and then give 

 forth a quick, explosive sound hke an escaping jet of 

 steam. One involuntarily closes his eyes and jerks 

 back his head. The girls, to their great amusement, 

 provoked the bird into this pretty outburst of her 

 impatience two or three times. But as the ruse failed 

 of its effect, the bird did not keep it up, but let the 

 laughing faces gaze till they were satisfied. 



There is only one other bird known to me that 

 resorts to the same trick to scare away intruders, 

 and that is the great crested flycatcher. As your 

 head appears before the entrance to the cavity in 

 which the mother bird is sitting, a sudden burst of 

 escaping steam seems directed at your face, and 

 your backward movement leaves the way open for 

 the bird to escape, which she quickly does. 



The chickadee is a prolific bird, laying from six 

 to eight eggs, and it seems to have few natural 

 enemies. I think it is seldom molested by squirrels 

 or black snakes or weasels or crows or owls. The 

 entrance to the nest is usually so small that none of 

 these creatures can come at them. Yet the number 

 of chickadees in any given territory seems small. 

 What keeps them in check ? Probably the rigors of 

 winter and a limited food-supply. The ant-eaters, 

 138 



