124 



Bird Notes and News 



of the ascending Lark can afterwards sit 

 down and knowingly eat the bird. He might 

 just as well feed on his canaries, and probably 

 would not detect any difference." 



From Mr. T. A. Coward : — 



" Surely this barbarous custom cannot 

 survive. Doubtless the Lark is palatable — 

 I don't know ; I have never tried ; I trust 

 I never shall — but it can never be a valuable 

 or necessary article of diet. Certain agri- 

 culturists have blamed it as inimical ; no 

 argument that I have ever seen moves me. 

 It may do a little harm ; I am sure that it 

 does great good, but the economic position 

 of the bird has no bearing on the question. 

 Every Lark is a precious asset, for it is beautiful, 

 and we cannot afford to lose a single object of 

 beauty. The song may be inferior to that of 

 Nightingale, Blackcap, Blackbird, or Willow- 

 Wren ; there is taste in this matter ; but the 

 bird's vehement trills, its glorious outbursts 

 in the awakening year, are the very spirit 

 of Music. To eat the Lark is selfish destruction 

 of one of Nature's greatest gifts." 



BIRD-FEEDING 



It is surprising how easily birds maybe tamed 

 by providing food for them, and a few notes 

 on the methods used and the results obtained 

 may be of interest. 



The first necessity is to provide the right 

 sort of food. Bread and biscuit cnmibs are 

 always suitable. Nuts and fat for the Tits 

 and Nuthatches, old meat and bones too, 

 and any scraps of cakes or puddings. The 

 food should be placed on open trays or tables, 

 or hung in string bags. Coco-nuts, with 

 both ends cut off, and walnut shells stuffed 

 with fat, can be hung from twigs or balcony. 

 It must be seen that there are no cats about, 

 or the food will only tempt birds to their 

 death. Another thing to take care about is 

 that there should be nothing flapping in the 

 wind near the food, and that the birds will not 

 knook anything off the tables. Tins of food 

 are not good, as they often get upset and the 

 birds are scared. 



Put the food, at first, at some distance from 

 the house. The birds will soon come if they 

 do not see too many people near the tables. 

 When they come regularly bring the food, 

 little by little, nearer the house. In time 

 the birds will become accustomed to feeding 

 on the window-sill. Always see that there is 

 plenty of food, and also some water when 

 there is frost. Many birds die by thirst when 



the puddles freeze over. When the birds 

 will come quite close to you never make a 

 quick movement. Always watch through half- 

 closed eyes and make no noise. These three 

 things are all-important. 



Where there are many Finches, it is good to 

 put out bird-seed, and, in particular, hemp. It 

 is as well, however, to scare away sparrows 

 and starlings when possible, or the shyer 

 birds will never have a chance. 



The following results were obtained one year, 

 beginning in the spring and going on through 

 the summer, which shows that winter is not 

 the only time birds are glad of outside help. 

 The food at first was put out on the verandah, 

 but later brought into the house. The first 

 bird to come regularly was the Chaffinch. 

 Soon afterwards a pair of Willow Tits began 

 to come. These would visit the store very 

 often, four times in the minute, taking food 

 away to hoard up. A Carrion Crow also began 

 to come. Soon Thrushes and Blackbirds, 

 Blue Tits, Great Tits, Marsh Tits, Cole Tits, 

 and Willow Tits ; Chaffinches, an occasional 

 Bullfinch, Nuthatches and Sparrows all fed 

 on our window-sills. We fed them from 

 four rooms and often there were six or seven 

 birds on each window-sill. Then we began 

 to put food inside the rooms. The Blackbird 

 would come in with his beak fringed with 

 worms, and pack in a bit of nut. The Tits 

 would come and sit on the flowers, hop about 

 the room, and shriek at each other. The 

 Nuthatches would hop about the floor, climb 

 the table legs, and search everywhere for fresh 

 food. 



There was no fear : the birds were as much 

 at home as in the trees. One would often 

 be woke early by a chorus of Tits squabbling 

 on the bed. If one had breakfast in bed the 

 Tits and the Blackbird shared it. If one sat 

 on a chair, with food on one's knee or in one's 

 hand, the birds ate it. The Tits would sit 

 above one's head and whisper. The Nuthatch 

 would cling, upside down, on one's trousers. 

 And all this for a little trouble each day ! 



When such results can be obtained easily, 

 it is surely worth while to encourage the birds 

 in every way. — J. Fursb, R.N. 



[It is surely by an oversight that Midshipman 

 Furse omits the Robin from his list of guests.] 



THE BIRD'S EPITAPH 



My song it was a song of purest mirth : 

 I died of hunger on an ice-bound earth. 

 Ella Fullee-Maitland. 



