"Oh, yes, Phyllis, many a day have we pecked away at that meat bone. It was really very good."
"Jack read in a book that you were fond of pecking at meat bones. He will be glad to know that it is true!"
"Thank him for us," said the chickadee. "You were kind to remember us!"
"Ah," said Phyllis, "but it was kind of you to remain behind to cheer us when all the other birds have gone to warmer lands.
"But, chickadee, though you are so cheery and gay in winter, are you not really happier in the summer-time?"
"Oh, we are so busy in summer," the chickadee replied. "Last May I travelled miles and miles looking for a vacant house."
"Looking for a vacant house?" cried Phyllis, with wide brown eyes.
"For housekeeping," said the chickadee. "You see my mate and I had never kept house before. She was very anxious to find a most suitable place.
"My wife said a woodpecker's nest was the very place, but I rather preferred a squirrel's hole.
"For a long time we could find neither to suit us. But at length I heard Mrs. Chickadee calling loudly. I flew to her side at once.