J^ote0 from Jfielt) anlD ^tuDp 



Some Random Bird Notes 



I was N'ory much inUTcsled in llic dif- 

 ferent papers publisiied in iqio, of Hird- 

 LORE, for, while a farm-dweller, 1 have 

 been a much interested observer of bird 

 life about me, and for years have tried 

 in every way to attract the birds to my 

 lawn and the big maples at the side, and 

 in other ways induce them to nest about 

 the door, and the sheds, and shrubbery 

 adjacent to the house; and I have been 

 very successful. 



For years I lia\'e had a very promising 

 colony of squirrels that arc very familiar 

 "citizens" of the lawn, and big near-by 

 trees, and, so far as I know, they have not 

 molested the birds; but the red squirrels 

 do, and they are shot as fast as they show 

 up during the nesting season of the birds. 

 English Sparrows are the worst enemy, 

 and they are shot on sight. Years ago 

 they became very wary, but the occa- 

 sional shooting of a stray one keeps the 

 lawn practically free of them. 



In the trees, in nooks and corners about 

 the buildings, we keep bo.xes and little 

 paint kegs fastened, with all sizes of aper- 

 tures for entrances, and usually have ten- 

 ants for them all. In protected places, like 

 the gable rake of the carriage-house, there 

 are Robins' nests. One nest has now been 

 occupied for three years in succession, has 

 been the home of si.x broods of birds, and 

 is in good shape for iqii tenants. The 

 birds repair it a little each nesting, and it 

 is now quite eight inches in height. 



The Bluebirds come back to the old 

 nest-bo.xes, year after year — I think the 

 same birds. A nook in the kitchen porch 

 is a favorite place to nest, and, one year, 

 two families were located there at the same 

 time, their nests being not over five feet 

 apart. The Tanagers have nested in the 

 maple, not thirty feet from the house, and 

 Chippies, Wrens, Catbirds, and the like, 

 are common inhabitants. I suppose be- 

 cause of a fancied protection. Orioles are 



induced to l)uil(l in the elm near the door, 

 l)ossiljly because the old farmer, when 

 they arrive in the spring, puts there a 

 great assortment of white strings, very 

 finely torn slips of white rags (red will not 

 be accepted), and cotton waste, all of 

 which is eagerly taken up in nest-building. 

 One Oriole put nearly- one hundred feet of 

 line white twine, cut into foot-lengths, into 

 her nest this season, and would almost 

 take the strings out of my hand, to deftly 

 felt into her nest. 



In the winter, I have known about 

 twenty varieties of birds to feed upon my 

 bounty. If cats attempt to molest, a 

 charge of salt fired into their fur will cause 

 them ever after to give that place a wide 

 avoidance. Suet is the most attractive 

 food we can put out for the majority of ray 

 guests. We take a piece of about a pound 

 weight, wind it closely with twine, tying 

 frequently, and then suspend it to the 

 outermost boughs of a tree, about ten feet 

 above the ground, and a like piece in 

 another place. This attracts the Wood- 

 peckers, the Nuthatches, Jays, Cardinals, 

 Titmice, and the like; while about a shallow 

 box, with a wide, fiat cover, about five 

 inches above it, which is placed securely 

 on a limb of a tree, and supplied with 

 coarse, ground chicken feed, one soon 

 finds yet another class of happy boarders, 

 eating at all hours, and dodging the 

 cashier's desk as well. In protected places, 

 under open sheds, and in sheltered nooks, 

 we put big baskets of barn-floor sorts and 

 chaff for yet another class of birds, the 

 Juncos, Sparrows, and the like, and the 

 way they make the chaff fly in search of 

 seeds would do credit to hens. So, this 

 way, without much labor — and that com- 

 pensated for ten times over — this farmer 

 keeps a great companj' of birds about 

 his door, and is coming to know them in 

 some measure. But that colony of fox 

 squirrelsl They live in the big maple trees 

 near-by, run on, and over the lawn, and 

 are fed some hickor\- nuts and ears of corn, 



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