8 Massachusetts Audubon Society 



I use the same mixture of food all the time. To attract j uncos, chipping 

 sparrows and cardinals, I use cracked corn, common canary seed, and sun- 

 flower seeds. All the birds are especially fond of sunflower and hemp seeds, 

 that is the seed-eating birds. But all the birds that have ever come to my 

 trap, no matter what they are, bluejays, woodpeckers, grackles, catbirds and 

 robins, prefer uncracked black walnuts. I have seen the hairy and red-bellied 

 woodpeckers leave the suet and come down for the nuts, and in my estimation 

 it is the nuts that attract most of the birds. The robins seem very fond of 

 bread too and will gulp down great pieces of it. Unless the bread is soft, I 

 soak it in water before putting it near the trap. If I have other nuts I use 

 them too, but the birds all seem to prefer the walnuts. 



The best part of trapping birds is that we soon learn to know the birds 

 that repeat often and come to look for their visits. It is something one 

 never seems to tire of, for our interest keeps growing with the number of 

 birds, and the desire to know if they will come back next year makes us 

 anxious to keep up the work. Those who take up this work will never 

 regret it. There is satisfaction in knowing we are doing something worth 

 while to solve problems of migration, and other puzzles of ornithology, but 

 the most satisfaction comes in knowing that now, at last, we are beginning 

 to know the birds intimately. 



A BLUEBIRD REFUGE 



W. W. Sargood, East Lee, April 1st, 1922. 



Lee. 

 Dear Sir: 



In regard to the scarcity of bluebirds in your section, would say that 

 tonight I saw one of the most pathetic as well as unusual and unheard of 

 sights I ever saw. There is an old apple-tree stump about ten feet high in 

 which a pair of bluebirds nest every year, located here in the yard, and 

 tonight the bluebirds began to flock in here in pairs, and even four and five 

 at a time, and go into this nest, which is quite a large hole inside of the 

 stump, until it was so full that they could not get in. They seemed so be- 

 wildered and cold, and I began to think of something to put up to house 

 them, and the only thing I could think of was some r libber boots and arctics. 

 So I tied a boot to a post used for clotheslines a short distance from the 

 stump, with the sole of the boot to the post, and placed a stick, crossways in 

 the top, so that it would not close up, and do you know it wasn't five min- 

 utes before they began going into the boot. They seemed to know that I had 

 put it up for their protection. Then I put up another boot in a nearby tree 

 and also some arctics, which were all used. One of the arctics I put on the 

 house, and they even went into that. 



I counted fourteen that went into the boot on the posts. Such a sight 

 I never saw or heard of. The last one to go in went at just 7 o'cock, after 

 the street lights were lighted and it was quite dark. After it was dark I cov- 

 ered up the end of the boot, leaving a small hole for them to come out of in 

 the morning. 



Sunday morning I arose at 6.30 to watch the bluebirds come out, but 

 was a little late as the boots, etc., were empty. However, those in the tree 

 had not all gone, as I counted nineteen come out one after another and per- 

 haps there had been more that I did not see. Today I cleaned out another 



