220 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



AH communications for this department 

 should be sent to the Department Editor, 

 Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street, 

 Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Items, articles 

 and photographs in this department not 

 otherwise credited are by the Department 

 Editor. 



The Birds' Christmas. 



Let us not forget the birds in our Christ- 

 mas plans. There are several ways in 

 which we may be able to help them, chiefly 

 in providing food and shelter. 



About the house we may put out extra 

 bits of suet, tying them to the trees or 

 bushes where our guests mav be easily ob- 



A DOWNY WOODPECKER AT LUN'CH. ' 



served from the windows, thus affording 

 an added amount of pleasure to those in- 

 doors who may be interested to watch 

 them. The picture of the downy wood- 

 pecker here shown was taken from a 



sitting-room window, while the bird fed 

 contentedly from a strawberry basket at- 

 tached to some shrubs, close beside the 

 walk and but a yard or two away from the 

 window. Blue jays, chickadees and nut- 

 hatches also fed from the scraps placed in 

 this basket. 



Birds soon learn to know their friends 

 and are quick to show their confidence in 

 this way. As suggested in the October 

 number, if we started putting out food 

 early in the season we should be more 

 likely now to have daily visitors among 

 the birds. Bread crumbs and grain are 

 good for the tree sparrows and juncoes, 

 and nuthatches and woodpeckers seem to 

 delight in picking at a bone containing 

 dried bits of meat, hung from the trees or 

 wedged in the branches. This gives a 

 variety from the suet. 



Window boxes have special advantages 

 in being easily cared for and the food sup- 

 ply kept up from within, besides being 

 ideally situated for studying the birds at 

 their feeding, and they may be varied in 

 many ways. Small evergreen trees may 

 be fastened upon them and bits of food 

 attached to these, or the scraps simply 

 scattered on the floor of the box. 



The "food stands," some of which are 

 quite elaborately made, are well suited for 

 keeping the food protected from the 

 weather, and at the same time allowing 

 of free access. Seeds and crumbs should 

 l^e kept dry. 



Shelter and protection from severe 

 weather and storms are also much appre- 

 ciated by the birds. Evergreen trees and 

 thickets of shrubs offer protection to 

 many about the houses, while brush heaps, 

 stacks of corn, etc., are made use of by 

 quail and pheasants in the fields and pas- 

 tures. In severe winters, especially when 

 the ground is covered with snow, pheas- 

 ants and bobwhites have a hard time in 

 procuring- food and will often come up 

 into the door-yards in search of it. Mixed 

 grain should be scattered in places kept 

 clear for this purpose. When ice covers 

 the twi<2rs and berries the ruff'ed grouse 



