64 Bird - Lore 



Build and keep, the year round, in a retired corner or nook, a neat brush-pile as 

 shelter and playhouse for the birds. Mold clay birds as decoys for fountains. 



Learn to recognize birds by flight, movements, call, or song. Practise imitating bird- 

 notes. Make whittled and sawed birds as bird-sticks, supports for vines and shrubs. 



3. Provide Food for the Birds. 



Collect in summer and fall an abundance of seeds, nuts, and berries. Notice what 

 weed-seeds arc especially liked by birds and harvest a large quantity of these. Grow a 

 large quantity of sunflower and vegetable seeds. Dry, and grind seeds of melon, squash, 

 and pumpkin. Save stale cornmeal or other cereals, also bread and cake crumbs. Collect 

 wild berries, waste cherries, and other cultivated fruits, drying these for winter. 



Write a record of foods eaten by birds on your premises, noting especially anything 

 you can find out concerning kinds and numbers of insects eaten. 



Make feeding-tables, cafeterias, shelters, food-cars, feeding-sticks, and other devices 

 for serving food to the birds. Assist in maintaining, during winter, a chain of feeding- 

 stations in the open for game- and other wild birds. 



Place suet-holders on poles, trees, or buildings, well out of reach of dogs and cats. 

 Photograph birds at watering-places, feeding-tables, and -stations. 



4. Provide Houses, Roosting-places, and Nesting Materials. 



Bird-houses should be well made, attractive in appearance, and adapted to bird- 

 needs. 



Erect a variety of houses suitable distances apart in well-chosen locations. Be sure 

 that the houses are of proper proportions, dull in color, and that the openings are correct 

 in size. There should be ventilation without drafts. 



In the spring, nesting materials of grasses, leaves, string, horse-hair, wool, cotton, 

 feathers, moss, or other soft materials should be furnished. This may be placed on 

 bushes, trees, or brush-pile. It is interesting to observe which birds use these. Make a 

 map showing location of nests in streets and nearby fields. 



5. Protect Birds from Dangers. 



See that birds on your premises are kept safe from cats, English Sparrows, and 

 other enemies. Encourage others to assist in befriending birds. Observe whether or not 

 women are wearing real or imitation feathers as hat-trimmings. 



Care for wounded birds. Make a cemetery for those found dead. Write your game 

 warden requesting a summary of State Game Laws. 



Qualify as a junior game warden if you are eligible, and your game warden will 

 furnish you with an official badge. Report to the game warden or commissioners if bird- 

 protection laws are disobeyed. 



Do not disturb birds during the nesting season. Most birds desert their nests if 

 people visit them often or touch the eggs. Ground-nesting birds frequently come to 

 grief because visitors make a trail which cats and other bird enemies follow and so 

 find their nests. 



Never catch birds learning to fly. The parent birds seldom find and feed little ones 

 that have been carried away from their nests. 



Hints for Bird-Study Club Programs and Activities. 



Include in the club all pupils in the schoolroom, if possible, and organize as suggested 

 in Audubon Leaflet. 



Decide on a good special name for your club, and have pennant colors and club 

 emblems. 



Present attractive monthly programs centering about birds studied in the regular 

 course. Give place also to reports of service rendered to the birds and to statements con- 



