Entertainment in Winter 137 



out the best place to buy birdseed. By buying 

 seed at wholesale, say one hundred pounds at a 

 time, it may be had at a very low price. For 

 example, the Meriden Bird Club buys its hemp 

 seed at four cents a pound, when the retail price 

 per pound is ten cents. We buy other seeds at 

 equally low rates. Many people do not care to 

 buy so much seed at once, but if there is a bird 

 club in town, the club can buy it in large quanti- 

 ties and sell it to members at cost. Or, if there 

 is no club, a few neighbors can club together, 

 order a hundred pounds or more sent to one 

 address, and then divide it afterwards. 



Hemp seed and Japanese millet are among the 

 best seeds to offer the birds in winter ; most of the 

 seed-eating birds will eat one or both of these, 

 and chickadees and nuthatches chiefly insectivor- 

 ous, are very fond of hemp. Sunflower and 

 canary seed are both eaten by a number of birds, 

 as are squash and pumpkin seeds, corn, oats, 

 wheat, bread crumbs, doughnut crumbs, dog- 

 biscuit crumbs and the seeds to be found in barn- 

 floor sweepings. Nuts are a favorite food of 

 chickadees, nuthatches, and some other birds, 

 but of course those with hard shells must be 

 cracked before being served. 



As a substitute for insect food there is nothing 

 better than suet, unless it be the mixture known 



