300 Bird -Lore 



The winter was an unusually cold and dry one, and the water froze quickly 

 on the shelf. The birds would break the ice when it was only a skin, but even 

 their big bills were of no avail when it grew harder, and it was necessary to 

 change the water many times a day. The Grosbeaks seem very fond of water 

 and when occasional snows fell they would eat mouthful after mouthful of 

 the soft flakes, coming down immediately to drink from their saucer as if they 

 had never tasted the snow. 



The birds spent most of every day here, eating box-elder seed in the 

 lower yard and rose hips for variety, nestling in the sheltered trees east of 

 the house, pecking at the frozen apples still clinging to the branches, and whis- 

 pering sweetly to one another, until a quarrel was started. They would leave 

 at times, coming back with their bills red with mountain-ash berries to which 

 the shells would stick until sometimes they appeared to be almost bearded. 

 One frozen apple which hung on a slender twig near the window lasted all 

 winter for the birds could reach it only by standing on tiptoe and stretching 

 out full length. Sometimes they would overbalance, catching themselves on 

 the wing and flying to another branch. The fresh fruit they did not seem to 

 care for when we placed it out for them, but they were very fond of the apple 

 seeds. 



If the shelf happened to be empty when they came, they would pick up 

 the empty shells, look inquiringly in the window, lay them down and pick 

 up more, until we relented and replenished their larder. The sunflowers 

 they ate first, next came the hemp, and last of all the smaller seed from 

 the commercial bird-seed packages. They would roll the tiny seeds around 

 in the tips of their bills, to crack them, looking comically like a fastid- 

 ious person nibbling a distasteful bite, and they truly seemed insulted when 

 only the tiny seeds were left for them. They were fond of apple-tree buds, 

 too, and would sidle along the limbs parrot-fashion nibbling them; but the trees 

 seemed none the worse for it in the spring. 



As the shelf was six feet above the ground, we thought there was no danger 

 of cats. But one day somebody's pet kitty cleared the six feet and clung 

 with her front paws to the shelf, finally falling back. The cat seemed as much 

 frightened as the birds, however, and did not try to leap to the shelf again. 



The Grosbeaks seem exceedingly quarrelsome, perhaps because of the 

 large number in so limited a space, but none of them was ever hurt, so far as 

 I could tell. One female especially, which was larger than the rest, kept the 

 flock in constant turmoil on the days she came but — praises be ! — she did not 

 come every day. We could tell when she arrived without seeing her, for 

 quarrelsome notes immediately arose, continuing until she left. There might 

 be but one bird on the shelf with her, and that at the other end, but she always 

 charged it, holding out her wings and opening her bill in a menacing manner. 

 The females always ended by flying from her, but the males generally drove 

 her away. None of them could eat or drink peacefully, and finally the whole 



