The Audubon Societies 



381 



upon insects, feed during the winter upon all fatty substances, and it is for this 

 reason that it is easy to supply them with food. Beef suet, meat scraps, all 

 kinds of nuts, raw peanuts, sunflower seed, pancakes, and doughnuts seem to 

 contain the necessary substances 

 and are much rehshed by them. 

 The granivorous birds found in 

 northern United States during 

 winter are mostly members of 

 the Sparrow family, and those 

 that come most commonly to 

 window feeding-stations are the 

 Juncos, Tree Sparrows, Song 

 Sparrows, Purple Finches, and 

 Grosbeaks. All kinds of seeds 

 are suitable for them, and, when 

 nothing else is available, cracked 

 grain, commonly called 'chick- 

 feed,' is the most convenient and 

 the cheapest. Weed seed col- 

 lected by the children, sweepings 

 from the barn floor, screenings 

 from the mill, and the crumbs 

 from the children's lunches are ^^^wn creeper at the m 1.1 i..h; 



The wire screen protects the suet from Crows and 

 all eCJUally SatlSiaCtOry. squirrels which might carry it away in one or two visits 



WHEN TO BEGIN 



If you have not already begun feeding the winter birds when you read these 

 lines, begin now. The best time to begin, however, is in the fall before the birds 

 have formed the fixed habits which later on take them over approximately the 

 same course every day. Early in the season they learn which trees are infested 

 with insects and which ones are barren of food and ordinarily they fly from one 

 to the next, skipping the barren trees. If one happens to select trees barren of 

 insect life for the suet, the birds may not find it for a long time. On the other 

 hand if one watches the birds before placing the suet and selects trees through 

 which they regularly pass, it makes little difference how late in the season he 

 begins. 



HOW TO BEGIN 



The best way to begin is to select the window or spot in the yard where one 

 wishes the birds to come and, from this as a center, as nearly as possible in the 

 four directions, fasten pieces of suet in the branches of the trees to a distance of 

 several hundred feet. If a bird comes anywhere in the vicinity it is then apt to 

 find one of these pieces of suet and will sooner or later tlnd its way to the desired 



