The Audubon Societies 



lendaiuf as any of the otluT birds, al- 

 though they prefcrrud lo foraf^o on a pik' 

 of house refuse al the cxlrcnie end of the 

 garden; however, on several occasions I 

 saw them feeding within twenty feet of 

 the kitchen porch. The food counters were 

 used until late in the spring, especially by 

 a pair of Nuthatches. They were so well 

 pleased with their surroundings that they 

 concluded to remain, and lliey took pos- 

 session of one of the horizontal von Ber- 

 lepsch bo.xes, size E, and started nesting. 

 Unfortunately a pair of Starlings fancied 

 the same box. and one morning I found the 

 body of the female Nuthatch lying dead on 

 the ground under the box; her skull had 

 been pecked open, presumably by one of 

 the Starlings. Both English Sparrows and 

 Starlings commenced to occupy the boxes 

 by February 22, and became pests as they 

 fought and drove away several pairs of 

 Bluebirds, which would otherwise have 

 nested. Only one pair of Bluebirds suc- 

 ceeded in nesting. My gardener was in- 

 structed to drive away the Starlings from 

 this box, and finally they abandoned 

 further efforts to occupy it, and the Blue- 

 birds were permitted to remain in peace. 



House Wrens arrived April 25. In 1909, 

 one brood of Wrens was raised, but this 

 year three broods — one pair had two 

 broods, while a second pair raised a brood 

 at the opposite end of the yard. These 

 boxes (Size Ai) were within two hundred 

 feet of each other, but there was no clash- 

 ing between the birds, although they are 

 usuall}' rather pugnacious in disposition. 

 Robins, Song, and Chipping Sparrows bred 

 on the place. 



Plainfield has one large colony of Mar- 

 tins, which occupy four large houses on 

 the main business street of the town. I 

 was in hopes that some of this colony might 

 overflow, and occupy the two ten-room 

 houses set up by my neighbor and myself. 

 On two occasions, ISIartins came to the 

 houses, and attempted to alight and in- 

 vestigate; but in both instances they were 

 attacked and driven away by English 

 Sparrows. Not a Starling or English Spar- 

 row was permitted to breed on my place; 

 as fast as they built nests they were de- 



stroyed. The Starlings at)an(loned all 

 further attempts toward the latter part 

 of June, but the English Sparrows did not 

 cease until the middle of August. In my 

 garden I have a large bed of marigolds, 

 and also about one hundred sunflower 

 plants. Both of these have attracted many 

 Goldfinches, who seem quite as fond of the 

 seeds of the marigold as of the sunflowers. 

 It was not an unusual sight to see half a 

 dozen male Goldfinches feeding at the 

 same time; I have never yet seen a female 

 with them. 



My conclusions are as follows: If a lib- 

 eral supply of different kinds of food is 

 furnished, birds will surely be attracted 

 in the winter, and will do a great deal of 

 good. I noticed very often that the 

 Downies and Nuthatches would take a 

 few mouthfuls of suet or pork and would 

 then forage on the trees. One particular 

 tree, a small elm, in the summer of 1909, 

 was almost defoliated by a small black 

 caterpillar; this year it was troubled very 

 little. It is true that the tree was sprayed 

 once early in the spring, but I attribute 

 its healthy condition this year to the ef- 

 fective work done during the winter lo my 

 bird guests. 



If plenty of drinking and bathing places 

 and a liberal supply of breeding boxes are 

 furnished the birds on a given area, they 

 will surely increase. My garden, this 

 year, has been singularly free from insect 

 pests. I believe that I attracted some of 

 my neighbors' birds, especially Robins, 

 by keeping a large, shallow box filled with 

 clear water all the time. This was placed 

 about the center of the garden along the 

 main walk. I have seen as many as a 

 dozen Robins about it at once. Close by 

 I had a very large aster bed, and, much to 

 my satisfaction, on one occasion I saw 

 Robins picking off the plants those dis- 

 couraging, as well as disgusting, black in- 

 sects known as aster beetles. My rasp- 

 berries were not touched by the birds, and 

 I am positive I did not lose a quart of 

 them; this I attribute to the fact that the 

 birds were kept supplied with water. 



It is unfortunately a fact that the 

 greater the effort to attract birds, the 



