Birds and Seasons in My Garden 183 



Of direct enemies to tlie bird world in general in the nesting-season, tiie 

 Blue Jay, Crow, Purple Grackle, Starling, red squirrel, cat, black snake and 

 weasel must be counted, while of the indirect and inanimate are the small- 

 meshed wire fences, electric lights and wires, the complete drainage of wide 

 tracts, which not only cuts ofif the water-supply, but the insect food that 

 breeds near it. Yet, though many of these conditions cannot be directly 

 obviated, they can be counteracted, at least within garden confines. 



It is two years since I have continued the supply of lunch-counter food 

 during the entire season with, to me, astonishing results. "Pauperizing the 

 birds," I was once inclined to consider this, and, strictly speaking, it might 

 be so called ; and yet, do we expect to invite guests to our houses and not give 

 them of our very best? 



Generally speaking, the feeding o!: birds is preached as a matter for the 

 winter months, but, to my mind, it is, owing to climatic conditions, fast becom- 

 ing a matter for every day. In early spring, the insect-eaters often return to 

 be met by a killing frost. A dry May sends the earth-worms below the Robin's 

 tug-of-war reach; much spraying with arsenate of lead cuts ofif the tree- top 

 supply of another group, and so on. 



Now at mid and on to waning summer I am having a no less interesting 

 group of table-boarders. To be sure, the supplies are more scattered than in 

 winter, being distributed in a half-dozen places; for I have discovered that 

 when the fruit is picked over for the table, using the damaged berries of 

 various kinds at the feeding- stations, the garden crop benefits in proportion. 

 Only be sure to have the fruit-counter near a shady copse from which the 

 birds may sally forth unobserved, and naturally located, on a fence or stone 

 wall. 



I found, during the past winter, that a finely ground compound, sold as 

 "chickfeed," was the best and most economical food for the smaller seed- 

 eaters, such as Song and Tree Sparrows, Lesser Redpolls, Juncos, and so forth. 

 This I kept thickly sprinkled on some old shingles that, for protection, I had 

 fastened over the posts of the piazza railing. I intended to take them off at 

 spring cleaning time, but the sight from the breakfast-table was still so at- 

 tractive that I said "just a little longer," until now it has become a feature 

 of the day. Owing to this, three pairs of Song Sparrows have located close to 

 the house, and not only come for their daily rations, but have brought their 

 pufify Uttle fledglings as well, and this morning our own meal was suspended 

 and the Commuter's train allowed to slip by on account of a charming little 

 tableau vivante — a mild-eyed mother Chippy feeding a little brood of four, who 

 stood before her on the shingle, open-mouthed with wings all a-quiver. 

 While, more unusual yet, the shy Field Sparrow, with his bright bill and 

 strongly marked back, also visits this place. 



Judicious feeding has, I am convinced, helped me to solve the Jay prob- 

 lem so far as it concerns my garden. While in summer the Jay might be dis- 



