^otes from JFtelti anti ^tubp 



Our Ways with the Wild Birds 



One snowy day, several years ago, we 

 tied a little cocoa-box, filled with crumbs, 

 to the window-sill, the box resting on its 

 side and the open end serving as an 

 entrance. From this beginning grew the 

 idea of our present lunch-room, a frame 

 house with glass sides, mounted on a shelf, 

 a foot above the window-sill. A small 

 glass dish of chopped nuts is kept on the 

 floor of the house. 



Our regular boarders are Chickadees 

 and White-breasted Nuthatches. For 

 many years we had Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatches, now they are only occasional 

 visitors, as they are seldom seen in town. 

 They are all perfectly fearless, even eating 

 quietly while the family cat sits watching 

 on the sill, with only the window glass 

 between them. Large numbers of birds 

 feed here every day, from November to 

 May. 



Two spruce trees near the kitchen win- 

 dow make a lunch-counter which is even 

 more attractive. This one is used all the 

 year, and a much larger variety of birds 

 come, beginning in early spring, with 

 Robins, Bluebirds, Song Sparrows, and 

 Juncos. Then come two or three weeks of 

 perfect delight when White-throated, and 

 White-crowned Sparrows are constantly 

 feeding there, even singing their thanks 

 before flying to the trees. These Sparrows 

 are back again in August, and last year 

 fed there regularly every day until the 

 twenty-eighth of October. 



One season, American Crossbills came 

 for a month. All summer, Robins, Chicka- 

 dees, Nuthatches, Song and Chipping 

 Sparrows, Juncos, and Hairy and Downy 

 Woodpeckers bring their little ones to 

 this shelf. 



Suet and marrow-bones are hung in 

 the trees. An abundance of barberries, 

 crab-apples, honeysuckle berries, and 

 sunflower seeds supplement the fare 

 found on the counters. 



The little fountain in the yard is used 

 constantly by all varieties of birds. 

 Wilson's Thrushes are daily visitors, also 

 Catbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Redstarts, 

 Vireos, and Orioles. Scarlet Tanagers, 

 White-winged Crossbills, and Bobolinks 

 come occasionally. 



We have solved the questions of how to 

 control our family cat. His days are spent 

 under the south piazza, where he sits 

 contentedly looking out through the 

 netting in front or curls up in a box in a 

 shady corner. After the birds are quiet for 

 the night he is released. The good supper 

 that awaits him at nine o'clock never 

 fails to bring him to the door, where he 

 is captured and safely shut up for the 

 night. 



A call of distress from any bird brings a 

 member of the family to its rescue. If 

 the family cat is the offender, he is taken 

 into the house; if a neighbor's cat, he is 

 requested to go home without delay. 



A CONTENTED PRISONER 



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