XIX 
WINTER PENSIONERS 
Our northern winter is a lean time, ornitho- 
logically, though it brings us some choice birds 
of its own, and is not without many alleviations. 
When the redpolls come in crowds and the white- 
winged crossbills in good numbers, both of which 
things happened last year, the world is not half 
so bad with us as it might be. Still, winter is 
winter, a season to be tided over rather than 
doted upon, and anything which helps to make 
the time pass agreeably is matter for thankful- 
ness. So I am asked to write something about 
the habit we are in at our house of feeding birds 
in cold weather, and thus keeping them under 
the windows. Really we have done nothing pecu- 
liar, nor has our success been beyond that of many 
of our neighbors ; but such as it is, the work has 
given us much enjoyment, and the readers of 
“‘ Bird-Lore ”* are welcome to the story. 
Our method is to put out pieces of raw suet, 
mostly the trimmings of beefsteak. These we 
1 To which this article was originally contributed. 
