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Bird - Lore 



flower seed, and pumpkin seed. The 

 latter seed, big and tough as they are, are 

 easily crushed by the powerful bills of the 

 Finches, who do most of their eating in 

 the forenoon. About 2 or 3 o'clock in the 

 afternoon they disappear, not to be seen 

 again until the next day. When they have 

 gone, chopped nuts are placed upon the 

 window-trays, so that the Nuthatches and 

 Chickadees may enjoy an undisturbed 

 feast. The Blue Jays, of course, drive the 

 Purple Finches away from the window- 

 trays now and then, but their visits are 

 short. The Finches have a fixed habit of 

 gathering in the trees overlooking the 

 trays and sitting there contemplating the 

 coming feast, all the while uttering the 

 short, sharp metallic chirp that is so charac- 

 teristic of them. Finally one of them will 

 drop down to the tray, and then the rest 

 follow in crowds. When the tray is 

 empty, they resume their perches in the 

 trees and await the replenishing of the 

 dining-table. 



The food in the tray on the tree and in 

 the weather-vane tray is largely patron- 

 ized by the other birds while the Finches 

 have possession of the window-trays. 

 The Downy Woodpeckers, the Nuthatches 

 and the Chickadees regularly visit the 

 suet fastened against a tree near the 

 kitchen door. I have not seen a Blue 

 Jay eat suet this winter, although last 

 summer they ate it early and often. A 

 red squirrel sometimes helps himself to 

 this piece of suet. A solitary Brown 

 Creeper picks up the bits of suet dropped 

 to the ground by the other birds, but I 

 have yet to see him eat from the piece 

 fastened to the tree, although he creeps all 

 about it. 



The Juncos and Tree Sparrows feed 

 upon the ground, where we scatter hemp 

 seed, seeming to prefer that place to the 

 food-trays, although sometimes eating 

 there. The Juncos and the unidentified 

 Sparrows before mentioned appear at the 

 first break of day. I have heard them 

 'cheeping' at their food before it was light 

 enough to distinguish them clearly. The 

 unidentified Sparrows remain eating until 

 almost dark. The sun is well above the 



horizon before the Downy Woodpeckers, 

 the Nuthatches and the Chickadees show 

 up, while the Finches come along between 

 the early risers and the late. 



In a tree near the house we have a box 

 about eighteen inches square, with a hole 

 at one end, in which we put nuts for two 

 gray squirrels that are very tame and 

 come regularly for their meals. In this 

 box we also put sunflower seeds, and the 

 Nuthatches go right in after them like 

 the squirrels. In this way their food is 

 protected from the greedy and bullying 

 Blue Jays who reach in for the seeds but 

 do not dare to venture back like the 

 Nuthatches. 



Near this tree we have a concrete bird- 

 bath, home-made, which is filled in the 

 morning with hot water, and when ice 

 begins to form it is swept out and refilled 

 with hot water several times a day. This 

 is immensely enjoyed by both the birds 

 and the squirrels. The latter seem greatly 

 to appreciate the novelty of hot water in 

 winter, drinking deeply and frequently — 

 so do the Blue Jays. The smaller birds 

 gather around the steaming drinking- 

 place, sit in the rising steam, and take a 

 regular Russian bath. Quite often, even 

 in very cold weather, the Purple Finches 

 and English Sparrows hop right into the 

 warm water and take a regulation 'Palm 

 Beach dip.' The birds sit around watch- 

 ing the change of cold water to warm, and 

 the Red-breasted Nuthatches are some- 

 times so impatient that they flutter close 

 by while the change is being made. In 

 a close observation for two years, I have 

 never seen the Downy Woodpeckers take 

 a drink of water at this bath, although 

 they are constant visitors and very tame. 



Among the hundreds of Purple Finches, 

 we see but three or four males in their 

 raspberry-red plumage. Can the editor 

 say why, in so large a number, there 

 should be so few males who are under the 

 two years required to grow such feathers? 



The Chickadee who first made his 

 appearance last fall is unusually tame, 

 sometimes sitting on the window-tray 

 while chopped nuts are being placed upon 

 it. The Red-breasted Nuthatches are 



