280



Henry S. Shaw, Junr.,



which came to the shelf many times each day for two or three

weeks. She kept busy while on the shelf picking up small particles

of seeds, etc., especially bits of sunflower seeds left by the Purple

Finches.


There is nothing of particular interest about the shelf itself

except, perhaps, the fact that it is easily removed for cleaning, and

has rather high sides, to lessen the likelihood of the contents blowing

off. I used sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, crumbs, and sometimes

chopped nuts.


At the present time the bark of a pitch pine which stands

near the shelf is quite thickly studded with the shells of sunflow T er

seeds which have been wedged into the crevices by White-breasted

Nuthatches. It is interesting to watch one of these birds take a sun¬

flower seed from the shelf, fly with it to the tree, and then climb up

and down the trunk until a crack in the hark is found which will

hold the seed securely. Then the bird, generally head downward,

hammers the seed vigorously with its bill and easily extracts the

kernel. The little Chickadees also open the sunflower seeds by

hammering on them with their bills, and they are able to deliver

blows of considerable strength, the seed being held between the bird’s

feet, either on a small branch or on the edge of the shelf. In the

latter case the noise of the pounding can easily be heard in the house,

even in an upstairs room. The Purple Finches, on the other hand,

can readily crush the seeds with their powerful bills and do not have

to resort to any hammering.


The pan of water proved an attraction even in winter, and

although the water often froze at night, it was an easy matter to

knock out the ice in the morning and refill the pan with water, which

would generally remain unfrozen during the day.


Little need be said of the suet, except that of the twelve

species of birds seen eating it the Chickadees, Nuthatches, and

Downy Woodpeckers were the most plentiful. But it is interesting

to note that, for a time in the spring, Pine Warblers, both male and

female, came to the suet quite regularly.


The birds which interested me most, I think, were the Red¬

breasted Nuthatches, not only because of their tameness and quaint

-manners, but also because I associated them with the New Hamp-



