FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER 53 
some warning. But to draw birds about the low win- 
dows, where they soon grow so unsuspecting and so 
occupied with feeding and each other, is to draw them 
into a sure trap unless protection is offered. A high 
woven wire can enclose a space about the windows 
effectively. No amount of vigilance will outwit a cat. 
Early and late I find them lying in hiding, and they 
will spring upon the window-sill and take off a bird, 
if they can only approach close to the edge of the 
house. 
‘Tn this as in all other things, the measure of success 
will depend upon the attention given to it, and how 
much of one’s real self goes into it. Cared for to-day 
and neglected to-morrow, failure will follow. Food 
may be furnished and birds be present, and little joy 
flow to the giver. But with a heart filled with a love 
for the life all about one and a desire to solve such 
questions as spontaneously accompany nature work, I 
know of no other pursuit that brings richer rewards. 
There is no side of our character which will not grow 
finer, more tender, more reverent from the effort at a 
closer living to nature’s heart, a sympathetic study of 
her work all about us.” 
Mrs. Davenport’s description refers to feeding birds 
in gardens and on lawns in a small town, and the fol- 
lowing species have been identified by her in and near 
her orchard : — 
300. Ruffed Grouse. 360. American Sparrow-Hawk. 
332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 373. Screech Owl. 
393. Cooper’s Hawk. 087. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 
