MY CHICADEE FRIENDS 103 



me devour their entire brood. To mend the nest 

 was the next step. It was easily accomplished, 

 for all the necessary materials were close at hand. 

 A large piece of birch bark was peeled from a 

 tree that had been blown down during a recent gale. 

 This I put on the stump, sleeve-fashion, lacing it, 

 on the side furthest from the opening, with a piece 

 of wild smilax vine. After cutting a hole in the 

 birch bark patch and inserting a few broken twigs 

 here and there, and generally making the new 

 patch look as much as possible like the bark on the 

 decayed stump, I retreated to a little distance that 

 I might watch the effect. There was, however, 

 but little to watch. Both IVIr. and Mrs. Chicadee, 

 first one and then the other, entered the repaired 

 nest after only a casual glance. Evidently they 

 had no objection to the change, and so once more 

 things went on as usual, though it was only for a 

 few more days ; the time was drawing near when I 

 was to prove whether or not I had gained the 

 confidence of my Chicadee friends. 



The day came at last, a fine, bright, sunny day, 

 though intensely hot, and the young birds were to 

 make their bow to the great world. I had brought 

 with me all the necessary photographic paraphernalia 

 with the hope and expectation of obtaining portraits 

 of the Chicadee family. Hitherto I had only secured 

 photographs of the parent birds going in and out of 

 their nest, and these, though interesting, were as 

 nothing compared with what I imagined I should 

 get. It is well to be sanguine, to hope for things 

 that never will be, for otherwise even our greatest 

 enthusiasm would be short-hved and our successes 



