THE CHICKADEE. 585 
before unseen, sallies forth and instantly appears before 
the intruder, hopping from branch to branch, keeping but 
a short distance from him, and remaining silent until he 
fears their retreat may be discovered, then he sounds the 
alarm. At the noise the female peeps out of her abode, 
and quickly dodges back to wait the issue. If their 
nesting-place is not seen, or the male has artfully drawn 
the person away, the pleasing notes, Phe-be, Phe-be 
are heard; but if the nest is disturbed, and the female 
routed, they are clamorous in reiterating the notes, Pe- 
dee-dee-dee. If their nest is destroyed, they linger about 
a day or two, then go in quest of another suitable place 
to build again, such as a rotten stump or decayed up- 
right limb of a tree or post, which is easily perforated, 
and dig a hole in it to the depth of six to nine inches, 
with a diameter usually of two and a quarter inches. 
They are often many days in preparing their tenement. 
Their labors are commenced in the morning of each day, 
both male and female working, and they work until about 
the middle of the forenoon, when they stop, and are 
seldom seen about the premises until the next morning. 
It seems as though the task before them would depress 
their spirits and discourage them in their undertaking, 
but energy and perseverance will accomplish much: bit 
by bit of rotten wood is taken out of the hole and carried 
by each bird ten or fifteen feet from the tree and dropped 
on the ground. There is no delay in their work except 
what arises from the difficulty of detaching the particles 
of wood from the sides or bottom of the cavity; for each 
bird, after dropping its light load, flies back to near 
the entrance and waits for the other to appear, when it 
enters the branch instantly. When the hollow is finished 
the bottom is concave, as usual in birds’ nests. 
AMERICAN NAT., VOL. I. 74 
