The Mountain Chickadees 
Taken on Ml. Shasta 
with the miscellaneous 
stuff which made up the 
lining of the cavity: 
moss, cow-hair, rabbits’ 
wool, wild ducks’ down, 
hawks’ casts, etc. The 
birds were not especially 
solicitous, although once 
the female flew almost 
into my face as I was 
preparing the eggs for the 
cabinet (alma mater’s). 
And then she sat quietly 
for several minutes on a 
twig not above a foot 
from my eyes. 
On the well-kept 
grounds of a northern 
magnate I came upon a 
nestful of these Chicka¬ 
dees, which the thought¬ 
fulness, or possibly the 
inattention of a 
gardener had spared. 
The nest was two feet 
up in a stump, concealed 
by a clump of second- 
growth maples, pictur¬ 
esquely nestled at the 
base of a volcanic knob. 
Upon first discovery the 
parent birds both ap¬ 
peared with bills full of 
larvse, and scolded 
daintily. Finally, after several feints, one entered the nesting hole and 
fed, with our eyes not two feet removed. Photography was impossible 
because of the subdued light, but it was an unfailing source of interest to 
see the busy parents hurrying to and fro and bringing incredible quantities 
of provisions in the shape of moths’ eggs, spiders, wood-boring grubs, and 
winged creatures of a hundred sorts. Let us hope the gardener knew 
what he was about in sheltering these unpaid assistants. Why, when it 
FELLOW MOUNTAINEERS 
Photo by the Author 
