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 rolled-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. 
