The Audubon Societies 



197 



Museum, Hendrix College, Conway, Ark. 

 Society of Natural History, Wilmington, 



Del. 

 Office of Massachusetts Audubon Society, 



Boston. 



Birdcraft Sanctuary, Fairfield, Conn. 

 Museum and Library, Oregon Audubon 



Society, Portland. 

 Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences, 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



TAMING WILD BIRDS 



"To go into the woods and call the birds 

 and have them respond by coming to meet 

 me has been one of my great desires. 

 Accordingly, one fall, after migration was 

 over and the resident winter birds were 

 settled in their chosen locality for the sea- 

 son, I undertook the experiment. I was 

 careful to select a spot easily accessible, 

 for the success of my plan would demand 

 daily visits no matter what the weather 

 might be. 



"Selecting a rather open space in the 

 woods, I scattered some nut-meats on the 

 ground, on a log, and on a stump where the 

 food would be in plain sight. I visited the 

 spot several days in succession afterward 

 and found the food exactly where I had 

 placed it. Then one morning I discovered 

 that the food had disappeared. I again 

 distributed a generous supply and the next 

 day found that this also had been taken. 



"By making my visits regular and always 

 placing the nuts in the open, the birds 

 came in time to connect my appearance 

 with the renewal of their food-supply. 

 They were usually hunting the ground over 

 when I arrived, waiting shyly but expec- 

 tantly for me to throw some to them. 

 Sometimes two or three birds would dash 

 for the morsel at the same time and there 

 would be a lively squabble for a moment 

 before the spryest bird would get it. 

 Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Downy 

 Woodpeckers were the regular visitors. 

 They would come right up to the hem of 

 my dress, stand there and look up at me, 

 keenly alert for the first movement of my 

 hand. For a long time they fed about me 

 in this manner, but finally one morning a 

 Chickadee, bolder than the others, fluttered 

 down from the branch of a tree immediately 

 over my head, seized the nut from my out- 

 stretched hand, and flew away with it. 

 The moment he did this, two other 

 Chickadees came to my hand from the 



ground and snatched a nut in the same 

 manner. I soon found that instead of hold- 

 ing out one nutmeat it was best to hold a 

 handful, as the hungry birds were eating 

 constantly. The most pronounced rule of 

 etiquette among Chickadees seems to for- 

 bid two or more eating together. As many 

 as ten birds have come to my hand, one 

 after another in almost the same number 

 of seconds, each taking the largest nut- 

 meat in sight and flying away with it. 

 Occasionally two or three would alight on 

 my hand at the same moment, when they 

 would snap at each other and depart in- 

 stantly without taking the coveted morsel. 

 From the moment they began to eat from 

 my hand they lost all fear of me. Now 

 when I go into the woods they usually see 

 me first and come to me, squeaking and 

 calling delightedly. Sometimes when I 

 enter their habitat I do not see or hear a 

 single bird, but when I call they come 

 flying from many directions — they know 

 my voice. They flock about me with the 

 greatest confidence. They eat out of my 

 hand, whether it is outstretched or not, 

 and if there is no food in my palm they will 

 run up and down my arm peeking into 

 every fold of my coat-sleeve for the nuts 

 that they believe are hidden away. They 

 alight on my hat, on my muff, on my 

 shoulder, and run all over me as though 

 they were playing a game of some sort. If 

 I close my hand, leaving my thumb up- 

 stretched, a bird will be sure to perch on 

 the tip and stand there looking haughty 

 and arrogant. If I try to put a nut on the 

 crown of my hat, a smart bird will get it 

 before I can drop it on the hat, and when 

 I pull a peanut bag from my pocket, one 

 of them will dive into it in his haste to get 

 a big nut. They all seem to know where 

 the nuts come from. 



Sometimes one will alight on my muff 

 and sit in the deep fur as though to warm 



