84 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIV. 



with the Humming Bird. We all know how alert 

 and absolutely instantaneous these birds are in their 

 movements and yet, if approached in a gentle even 

 way it is quite possible to gain their complete con- 

 fidence. I have used an artificial flower made of 

 bright paper, with a small bottle as a centre, filling 

 the bottle with a mixture of honey and water, and by 

 first lettmg them get acquamted with the special 

 quality of the nectar of this rare flower have after- 

 wards been able to have them come to my hand and 

 sip from the bottle without any decoration. My 

 experiments have been mostly carried on in the 

 fall, and I am inclined to think that it would be a 

 far more difficult proposition to tame these birds 

 during the nesting season. This would apply to al- 

 most all birds as nature has made them specially 

 timid and watchful during the time they are rear- 

 ing their young. 



Early in September it is well to hang out some 

 feeding devices so as to attract any birds that might 

 be persuaded to stay for the winter, and as with 

 nesting materials it is a good plan to have them out 

 early, however, just here I would like to say that 

 it is far better not to start feeding the birds if we are 

 not determined to do it regularly throughout the 

 winter. 



The feeding of birds ir. the winter is perhaps one 

 of the most interesting sides of bird study. As al- 

 ready stated we must have some thick clumps or 

 hedges of evergreen trees for protection if we are to 

 be successful in keeping the birds about our gardens 

 during the winter, but with this and careful regular 

 feeding it is wonderful what can be done along this 

 line. A feeding station arranged at a suitable win- 

 dow is certainly a source of great enjoyment during 

 the long winter months. I would like to explain 

 some of the feeding devices which I have found 

 successful, also some methods of taming the birds 

 and preparing their food. 



Having selected our favorite window our 

 aim will now be to entice as many birds as possible 

 to this spot. If we are fortunate enough to have one 

 or more trees within ten or twenty feet of the win- 

 dow we will find this a great aid. A brush pile say 

 about ten feet from the window is necessary, as 

 birds do not feel comfortable without a certain 

 amount of cover. The larger this is the better. An- 

 other very good thing is to place artificially a good 

 thick evergreen tree which will serve as a wind 

 break and also make the birds feel more at home. 

 There should be pieces of fat hung or fastened to 

 trees for some distance around. Always have the 

 best supply at your feeding station. It will not be 

 long before you are rewarded with the arrival of 

 a Downy Woodpecker, a Nuthatch, or a Chickadee. 

 Once the birds have found your station all out- 

 lying feeding places should be abandoned. If you 



are ambitious, you will frame up your window with 

 rough branches and make an artificial window sill 

 of a rough board, say about twelve inches wide, 

 your reason for doing this is to have a place for the 

 birds to feed should you be successful in getting them 

 tame enough to come to the window. At first the 

 birds will be quite shy, but if you are careful not 

 to frighten them at any time they will soon become 

 comparatively tame. 



A splendid device for taming some of the more 

 timid birds is a wire strung from the top of your win- 

 dow frame to the nearest tree, the outer end should 

 be a foot or two higher than the end at the window 

 so as to give the wire a slight slope down to the 

 window. This will give anything that is hung on 

 the wire a tendency to shift towards the window 

 instead of further away as would otherwise be the 

 case. The wire must be strung quite tightly so as 

 not to sag when it is carrying its load. Now the 

 idea is to hang feeding devices on this wire, first 

 at the farther end and when the birds have become 

 used to going to them, gradually shift closer to 

 the window. In this way it is possible to get many 

 quite shy birds to feed from your window sill. We 

 have succeeded in getting the Cardinals to feed 

 from our window sill in this way. 



At first it may be found a good idea to sprinkle 

 coarse grains such as oats, corn and perhaps some 

 finer seeds, say millett, hemp, etc., in a specially 

 prepared spot in your brush pile, but this will prob- 

 ably attract more house sparrows than anything else, 

 and if you do not resort to some means of out- 

 witting them they will soon monopolize your sta- 

 tion, eating everything you exhibit excepting the 

 whole corn. 



Generally speaking you can divide the birds that 

 will feed at your station into two classes, the seed 

 eaters and the suet or fat eaters. This division is 

 not absolute, but the Sparrows, Juncoes, Finches, 

 and Cardinals, are preferably seed eaters. The 

 Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers prefer 

 suet or fat, while the Bluejay will do ample justice 

 to either if it gets the chance. 



The Chicadees are probably the most interesting 

 and most easily tamed of our guests and our station 

 would indeed be quiet without them. 



The nature of a bird is to fly away as soon as 

 it secures a morsel that is good to eat ; now recog- 

 nizing this fact and remembering that our object is to 

 tame and see as much of the birds as possible, we 

 should guard against this. How? Well, when 

 putting out 5ue/ don't put out suet, but buy beef 

 fat. Of course I do not need to explain this to the 

 ladies but to the men I would say that suet crumbles 

 and breaks up into pieces just suitable for the birds 

 to fly away with, while beef fat holds together and 

 requires that each mouthful be pecked off. Result 



