44 
BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
The grayish brown chickadee with 
crown and throat black and the side of 
its head white is the Oregon Chickadee. 
He is a neat, dainty home maker. I 
saw him excavating for a home site last 
May. An old snag hung over the water. 
He would peck out a chunk of wood, carry 
it away, drop it, and then return for an¬ 
other piece. He apparently wanted no 
litter in his back yard. 
Oregon Chickadee chooses a deciduous 
stub and Chestnut-backed Chickadee 
chooses an evergreen stub. How do the 
little birds know the difference. 
Sometimes Oregon Chickadee finds an 
old stump which has just the sides stand¬ 
ing. He enjoys just such a place. Soon 
you may look down from the top and see 
the mother bird upon the nest. 
Late in June I found a pair of Chest¬ 
nut-backed Chickadees busy around a lit- 
tie, new, clean-looking hole in a tall stub. 
They hesitated to go in while I watched. 
But the baby birds were hungry so at last 
one parent entered but it whirled quickly 
and looked at me to be certain I was not 
playing it false. But the little folk had 
seen the juicy bug and they raised such a 
clamor that the bug had to be presented. 
I could hear them very distinctly. When 
this parent came out, the other entered to 
deliver a load. The parents worked finely 
