Rural School Leaflet mi; 



they find themselves safe and unmolested, they will respond to kindness. 

 When a new bird arrives among the regular visitors, he is always noticeably 

 more timid than the others, and sometimes remains shy for se\'cral 

 days. 



In placing the food it is well to bear in mind that eventually you want 

 all the birds coming to one place, either to a shelf at the window sill or 

 about the flagpole, where it will be easy to watch them. It will be well 

 first to select the place where you wish them to come, whether you im- 

 mediately build the shelf or not. Then, from this as a center, place the 

 food along radiating lines to a considerable distance from the school. 

 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 necessary for 

 only one bird to find one piece of suet in order to have eventually a con- 

 siderable troop coming regularly, for birds are ever on the alert watching 

 their fellows as well as searching for food on their own account. When one 

 bird finds the suet, the others will see him and soon follow. It is better 

 to begin by attracting the chickadees. They respond more quickly, and 

 the other birds seem to follow them about in their search for food, either 

 for the sake of their company, or, more probably, to take advantage 

 of their active habits and keen sight in locating spots where food is 

 abundant. 



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 fine chicken wire (one-half- 

 inch mesh) through which the smaller birds can peck. This precaution 

 will keep squirrels and crows from carrying the suet away in one piece. 

 The house sparrows, moreover, seldom care to cling with their feet to 

 the vertical trunk while feeding, but the native birds find this the 

 most natural and 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 by a small boy, 

 as the size and the shape are not important. Wire egg-baskets, soap- 

 shakers, and the like can be used, if one does not care to make his own 

 receptacles. 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. Making these bags would be good handwork for the 

 girls. 



The feeding shelf. — 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 school (usually the south), 



