Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

two notes in a very high key. It is a mournful, solitary song, the second syllable being very quavering. It was then that I attributed it to the chickadee, but today discovered my error and am much at sea as ever. There were a pair of them, and they are the smallest birds I ever saw, with the hummingbird excepted. I could not get a very good view of the male as he was too high up in the tree. It is for such occasions, Burroughs writes, that he brings his gun along. However I believe I would rather remain in the dark than shoot the bird down, but in case I would shoot, I believe that shot would so mangle his small body that he would be beyond recognition. My poor view of him showed that he was of a general olive color, with black on both sides of his head. The female was more curious and came quite close to me. How small and dainty she was! She was lighter than the male, and yellowish in color. [CEB later wrote in the margin “It is a chickadee (1951)”](HT)In Mystery Hollow, which is not a Hollow