226 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE IV U ■ 7— ocr., .90S 



horizontal twig or limb. Here they hold it between their toes, 

 and peck at it until the shell falls off. Then they eat the kernel 

 piece by piece. 



The nuthatches, when eating sun-flower seeds, fly to the 

 trough, pick up a seed, and then fly to a tree trunk. They 

 deposit the seed in a crevice in the bark, and start to peck at 

 the shell with their heads downward. After the shell is broken 

 apart, they eat the kernel piece by piece. 



The downy woodpecker and brown creepers, which I have 

 never seen eat anything but suet, fly to the trough and stay 

 there until they have had enough, or until some other bird has 

 frightened them away. 



The blue jays when eating suet, fly to the trough and stay 

 there till they have finished, unless another hungry jay happens 

 to be around. 



The juncos, when eating sun-flower seeds, w T ill crack them 

 wherever found. This they do by placing the seed between their 

 bills. After the shell is cracked and has fallen to the ground, 

 they swallow the kernel. It is amusing to watch juncos look for 

 food on a slightly snow covered trough. The amusing part is 

 that they scratch with both feet at once. 



Tree trunk birds can be made to feed in their natural positions, 

 by tacking a piece of suet on a tree trunk, fixed at the window. 

 The nuthatches will feed with their heads downward, and with- 

 out the support of the tail. A brown creeper and downy wood- 

 pecker will feed in an opposite position, supported by the tail, 

 while the chickadees will peck at the suet in almost any position. 



Beginning about March 17th, the birds gradually fed a few r er 

 number of times each day, until about April 10th, when bird 

 feeding for the season of 1906-1907 ceased. Although no more 

 birds came to feed after that time, the hermit trush still continued 

 to stay around the place. 



On April iSth, a flock of hermit thrushes, on their way north, 

 stopped in a neighboring wood for several days. After this 

 flock left, I never saw my winter friend again. 



