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Phœ-ee-bee!: more often the spring call than the winter call of Chickadee. It is to be distinguished from the “phœ’be” call of the phœbe, the flycatcher, by its greater softness and purity, and by its very distinct middle syllable, as if Chickadee said “Phœ’—ee—bee.” Phœbe’s note is two-syllabled.
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protective coloration: a favorite term with Darwin and many later naturalists to describe the wonderful harmony in the colors of animals, insects, etc., and their natural surroundings, the animal’s color blending so perfectly into the color of its surroundings as to be a protection to the creature.
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card house: as if made of cards, easily pushed, even blown down.
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the workman’s chips: Look on the ground under a newly excavated woodpecker’s hole, and you will find his “chips.”
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