Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-04-04
The Chickadee.

The Chickadee parts GtricapillstS)
is a common resident, familiar alike in
the woods and the dwellings of man.
He fears not the storms of winter nor
the heat of summer. Cautious yet
bold, cunning though seemingly simple,
he averts all suspicion of the where
abouts of his nesting-place, and, when
discovered, scolds the intruder. Ever
on the alert, the hawk cannot make
him his prey, nor the smooth gliding
snake surprise him in his nest. In
times of incubation, when danger ap-
pToaches, the male, before unseen,
sallies forth and instantly appears be-
fore the intruder, hopping from branch
to branch, keeping but short distance
from him, and remaining silent until
he fears their retreat may be discov-
cred, then he sounds the alarm. At
the sound the female peeps out of her
abode, and quickly lodges back to
await 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 reiter-
atSIg the notes, Pe-dee-dee-dee. If
their nest is destroyed, they linger
about a day or two, then 90 in quest of
another suitable place to build again,
such as rotten stump or decayed up
right branch of tree or post, which is
easily perforated, and dig hole in it
to the depth of six to nine inches, with
a diameter usually of two and a quar-
ter inches.
They are often many days in prepar-
ing 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 un-
til the next morning. 1t seems as
though the task before them would de-
press 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 bot
tom 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.
There is usually in the vicinity of the
nest hollow tree, or cavity made on
purpose for the male to rOOst in during
the time of breeding; such retreats are
also occupied by them in severe, stormy
weather, In winter, in which thew some
times remain three or four davs in suc-
cession. They make their nests of diff
ferent materials; sometimes it is en-
tirely of cows hair, at others entirely
of wool; usually it is composed of va
rious materials, such as those named,
together with fine grass, the fine dried
roots of the willow, ETC., and lined with
some soft material. Its inside diane
ter is one and three-fourths inches.
The eggs, which are commonly eight
in number, measure in length nine-six-
teenths of an inch, and in breadth
elght-siXteenths of an inch. They are
marked with reddish-brown specs over
the entire egg, more thickly at the
larger end; sometimes, however, the
spots are thicker on the smaller end of
some Of the eggs Of the same brood