BIRD NOTES 201 



keep the bark underneath, damp and unhealthy and insects will 

 find space for egg masses to hatch unmolested. 



Instead of nailing the house to the tree, a better method is to 

 make two holes just below the roof in the back of the house as far 

 apart as possible, so that the house may rest solidly on two corres- 

 ponding nails or hooks driven into the tree. Now, the bark is free 

 to expand in growth, while if the board were nailed tightly, the 

 bark underneath by the beginning of the second summer would 

 show signs of decay. By this method we have the advantage of a 

 periodical removal of the house and examination of the bark. 



A LIST OF BIRDS THAT EASTERNERS WOULD LIKE TO SEE 



The editor is the recipient of the following record from Miss 

 Barbara Marx, eleven years old, and a member of this bird class : 



"I am enclosing the list of birds we have observed. "We" 

 means the fifth and sixth grades of the Castilleja School of Palo 

 Alto, California. The other morning Miss Hayes, our teacher, 

 divided us into groups so that we wouldn't frighten the birds away, 

 and it was then we saw the owl, cedar waxwing and woodpecker. 

 The only peculiarity we have found worthy of note is that the 

 towhee scratches with both feet at once. 



White Crowned Span-ow, Gold Crowned Sparrow, Oregon Robin, 

 California Robin, California Towhee, Willow Goldfinch, Bush-tit, 

 California Jay, Crested Jay, Anna Hummingbird, Ruby-throated 

 Hummingbird, Bluebird, Woodpecker, Barn Owl, Cedar Waxwing." 



FEEDING-TABLE NOTES 

 The Editor 



One lone but by no means lorn red-breasted nuthatch has been a 

 daily visitant to the feeding table all winter. When he first came 

 he was very shy and very poor and needy in appearance ; he had no 

 spunk and a chickadee could drive him away by simply appearing 

 within his range of vision. But as he partook of the suet and sun- 

 flower seeds he grew fat and his courage waxed with his plumpness. 

 He finally tried to boss the whole company and would drop down 

 in a lordly manner in front of a white-breasted cousin twice his size, 

 to make him beat a hasty retreat. He had may admirers among 

 the nature-study classes ; his ways were delightful and his appear- 

 ance fascinating even to che cuceness of che cut of his bob-tailed 

 coat. A New England lad was heard co apostrophize him thus: 

 "Oh, you pretty, sassy little bugger." 



