74 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



of the furnishings, home birds Hke himself. It is the 

 blackbird from over the wall to whose intrusion he objects. 



Thus, by feeding the birds liberally and regularly, we 

 gather about us a large number which come to be depen- 

 dent upon us for their subsistence. Each of these birds 

 is a stranger in a strange land outside its own limited 

 territory. A keen frost comes, and perhaps just at that 

 time, for some reason, the birds are forgotten by the 

 family — ^possibly it is Christmas and the house is empty. 



This is the reason why, on returning to a house which 

 has been temporarily closed during keen weather, one 

 often finds dead birds on the snowdrifts near the door. 

 Sometimes a bird will be discovered huddled close against 

 the door, just as he settled himself when so sorely in need 

 of the food and warmth that failed. They do not actually 

 die of hunger, but because they are unable to resist the 

 cold when underfed. Few birds in this country die 

 actually of either cold or of hunger ; it is the combination 

 of the two that kills them. If they are well fed the keenest 

 winter has no terrors for them. 



Man is not consistent in his generosity. The feeding 

 of the birds is but one minute detail in his crowded life 

 — one of those details that do not count for much. It 

 is a habit easily acquired and maintained for a little while 

 with all the zeal of a sense of true virtue ; it is dropped 

 in a day and without thought of the results. Therefore 

 the birds that depend upon man lead the most precarious 

 lives of all during times of natural hardship. The few 

 that depend upon no one but themselves are then the 

 glorious few. Numbers of small birds die about our 

 villages and in the suburbs of our towns during every 

 keen cold snap, for at such times the call on man's 

 hospitality is greater than ever, for flocks of birds come in 

 from the hills and the hedgerows to share what little 

 there is — hungry rooks and jackdaws, flocks of rose- 



