i8o8 



The Cornell Reading-Courses 



farther from the house, and cease replenishing any but the one at thc> Avin- 

 dow. Soon all the birds will be coming to that one. 



Now, suppose you wish to have some of the seed eaters — a flock of 

 juncos and tree sparrows, for example — feeding at the window. If the 

 window ledge is wide, it will be sufficient to nail a cleat along the outer 

 edge in order to keep the seed from blowing off. But a wider shelf wall 

 be more satisfactory, as it gives the birds more room, none but the house 

 sparrows being willing to be crowded while they are eating. This shelf 

 can be made the full length of the window, or smaller; but the larger it 

 is, the more satisfactory it will be. At one end of the shelf should be 

 fastened a small Christmas tree or evergreen branch, to break the wind. 



r 



,..x»V--IL. I 



Fig. 38. — The simplest form of window feeding-shelf and a nuthatch visitor 



and to give the birds a place into which they may retreat when frightened. 

 It may be sufificient merely to place the proper food on the shelf in order 

 to attract these other birds, for they often travel in company with the 

 chickadees and nuthatches. But if there are no bushes near the house 

 to afford them shelter, they will probably hesitate to fly long distances 

 through the open in order to get to the window. In case there is no natural 

 shelter near the house, artificial brush piles should be made, as by leaning 

 together the lima bean poles with the vines attached. This has been 

 called " the bird's tepee," and it affords shelter during the winter snows. 

 It is always well to include evergreen branches in it, so as to keep the snow 

 from sifting through and filling all the open spaces below. Beneath this 

 " tepee " or brush pile, food should be scattered similar to that on the 

 shelf. 



