. Annual report of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University and the Agricultural Experiment Station. New York State College of Agriculture; Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1030 Rural Sch(X)l Leaflet. THE CHICKADEE Anna Botsford Comstock F all the birds that stay with us, to make cheerful our Northern winter, the chickadee is easily the favorite. No matter how cold or gloomy the day, its cheerful song and delightful personality charm us. The chickadee in winter seems friendly, and it is friendly; for it devotes its ent
. Annual report of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University and the Agricultural Experiment Station. New York State College of Agriculture; Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1030 Rural Sch(X)l Leaflet. THE CHICKADEE Anna Botsford Comstock F all the birds that stay with us, to make cheerful our Northern winter, the chickadee is easily the favorite. No matter how cold or gloomy the day, its cheerful song and delightful personality charm us. The chickadee in winter seems friendly, and it is friendly; for it devotes its entire energies all winter to hunting and eating insect eggs, or the insects tucked away in their winter quarters ready to attack the leaves as soon as they shall push out from their buds in the spring. It is particularly fond of the canker-worm eggs; and an experiment made by the Massachusetts State Board of Agricul- ture demonstrated that orchards to which chickadees were enticed during the winter were almost entirely free from this insect pest, while neighboring orchards were destroyed by it. As a winter visitant, the chickadee usually appears in company with the nuthatch; and the downy woodpecker is frequently a follower of this cheerful band. The nuthatches work upon the trunks and larger limbs of the trees, while the chickadees work industriously upon the twigs and buds. It is interesting to see a chickadee carefully examine a twig for insect eggs. He looks it over carefully from above, and then, swinging over, head downward, inspects it from below. The chickadee is blue-gray above, with the top of the head, the nape, and the throat black; the rest of the underparts and sides of the head are grayish white. The chickadee can be easily distinguished from the nuthatch by its black bib; the nuthatch has a black cap but it is white at the throat. The chickadee's beak is short and pointed, making a sharp little pick exactly fitted for getting the insect eggs and cocoons hidden awa
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