THE BIRD DEPARTMENT 



1103 



creeper. The woodpeckers find iheir natural food by 

 drilling into the chambers of wood-boring larvae, the 

 others find insects, pupae or eggs in the crevices of the 

 bark. All of them, however, are very fond of beef suet, 

 and once thev ha\e found a piece fastened in the tree, 

 they will return to it again and again until it is all gone. 



A JUNXO ON AN ANTI-SPARROW SHEI<F 



The slielf is hinged to the window sill and supported at its outer edge 



by springs so that it hounces when a bird alights upon it. House 



sparrows are ordinarily too suspicious to feed on this sort of a shelf, 

 while the native birds seem to enjoy the motion. 



Sunflower seeds and crumbs of raw peanut are relished 

 by both insect and seed-eating birds. 



WHERE TO PLACE THE FOOD 



One should not expect the birds to be tame at first, 

 or to come immediately to the w-indow sill. One 

 of the greatest pleasures to be derived from feeding 

 birds is to watch the gradual loss of timidity and 

 the increase in confidence of the birds that come 

 regularly to feed. At first they will be as wild 

 as any birds of the woods, but gradually, as they 

 find themselves safe and unmolested, they lose their 

 fear wdien a new bird arrives among the regular 

 \isitors, he is always noticeably more timid than 

 the others, and sometimes remains shy for several days. 



In placing the food it is well to bear in mind that event- 

 ually one wants all the birds coming to the same place, 

 either at a shelf at the window or to a place in the yard 

 where it will be easy to watch them. It is well to first 

 select the place where you wish them to come, whether 

 you immediately build the shelf or not. Then, from this 

 as a center, place the food along radiating lines to a con- 

 siderable distance from the house. The more pieces of 

 suet put up, the more quickly the birds will find it, and 

 the sooner they will come to the window sill. It is neces- 

 sary for only one bird to find one piece of suet in order to 

 have eventually a considerable troupe coming regularly, 

 for birds are ever on the alert watching their fellows as 

 vvell as searching for food on their own account. When 

 one bird finds the suet, the others will see him and soon 

 follow. 



At first it will be necessary only to tie the pieces of 

 suet to the branches without protection of any kind, and 

 the more conspicuous the places selected, the better. 

 Later if there are many squirrels, or crows, or house 

 sparrows about, it will be more economical to move the 

 suet to the trunk of the tree, holding it in place by a piece 

 of wire screening (one-half-inch mesh) through which 

 the smaller birds can peck. This precaution will keep 

 the squirrels and crows from imposing upon your hospi- 

 tality and carrying the suet away in one piece. The 

 house sparrows, moreover, are soon discouraged in trying 

 to cling with their feet to the vertical trunk while feeding, 

 but the native birds find this the most natural and the 

 easiest way. Another method is to suspend from the 

 outer branches, by strings, small wire baskets filled with 

 suet. These baskets can easily be made from an ordinary 

 piece of wire, as the size and shape are not important, 

 instead of using wire, some persons prefer to use a bag 

 knitted from string and of such coarse mesh that the 

 birds can easily peck through it. A half of a cocoa-nut 

 makes a very satisfactory basket. 



THE FEEDING SHEEF 



As soon as any of the birds have been seen eating the 

 pieces of suet, it is time to put up the feeding shelf. This 

 should be placed at a window on the sheltered side of the 

 house (usually the south), preferably the one nearest to a 



THE "ANTI-SPARROW" WINDOW" 1- l-,KI)l.\i , m >\ 



A chickadee is about to enter the box. The glass back admits plenty of 

 light but keeps the food free from snow and ice if the box is placed 

 so as to open to the soulli. One third of the floor is hinged and 

 supported by springs or. less ?,itisfactory, rubber bands. 



tree. If the window sill is very broad, it will be sufficient 

 to nail a cleat along the outer edge to keep the food 

 from blowing off. Usually, however, it is more satisfac- 

 tory to fasten a board, from eight to twelve inches wide, 

 to the sill to act as a ,-heIf. It mav be made the entire 



