SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 165 



one has but to follow the note of the Chickadee to find most 

 of the smaller wood birds. Warblers are not plentiful in the 

 woods at any time when there is a scarcity of their insect 

 food ; but the industrious, prying, resident Chickadee knows 

 the ground, and where to find food. His cheery notes call 

 the other birds to him. The Chickadees extract caterpillars 

 from webs or from roUed-up leaves ; and the Warblers im- 

 mediately follow and do likewise, though not with the skill 

 of the Chickadee. Now Chickadee finds some caterpillars 

 too large for him to swallow ; he catches one, places it on a 

 branch, puts his foot upon it, and soon extracts from it with 

 his beak all that he desires, leaving the remains where they 

 fall. The Warblers, less skillful, come along and exhaust 

 themselves in vain attempts to swallow the large caterpillars 

 whole. They eat what smaller ones they can, however, and 

 leave the rest to the Chickadees and Vireos. I never yet 

 have seen a Chickadee fail to manage any insect that it at- 

 tacked, although occasionally it drops one into the under- 

 brush. I once saw a Chickadee attempting to hold a monster 

 caterpillar, which proved too strong for it. The great worm 

 writhed out of the confining grasp and fell to the ground, 

 but the little bird followed, caught it, whipped it over a twig, 

 and, swinging underneath, caught each end of the caterpillar 

 with a foot, and so held it fast over the twig by superior 

 weight, and proceeded, while hanging back downward, to dis- 

 sect its prey. This is one of the most skillful acrobatic feats 

 that a bird can perform, — although I have seen 

 a Chickadee drop over backward from a branch, 

 in pursuit of an insect, catch it, and, turning 

 an almost complete somersault in the air, strike 

 right side up again on the leaning trunk of the 

 tree. Indeed, the complete somersault is an every-day ac- 

 complishment of this gifted little fowl, and it often swings 

 completely round a branch, like a human acrobat taking the 

 "giant swing." Although the Chickadee ordinarily is no 

 flycatcher, it can easily follow and catch in the air any insect 

 that drops from its clutch. This bird stands very close to the 

 first place among the useful birds of orchard and woodland, 

 and therefore its food habits merit an extended notice here. 



