62 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
coat sleeve, and made themselves very well acquainted 
with him. All the while the man in the house was 
saying to his daughter, “I guess those birds will let 
my strawberries alone now.” 
CHAPTER XI. 
OUR BIRDS’ RESTAURANT. — MEALS AT ALL HOURS. 
ONE day in the middle of winter some one suggested 
that we set up a “ Birds’ Restaurant” out on the lawn. 
It was such a funny idea that we had to laugh. After 
we were done laughing, we went to work, while the 
birds watched us, as they always do, expecting some 
surprise. 
We set a rustic table under a tree by the summer- 
house. Then came the question, “ What shall we put 
on it?” We imagined the birds all about were making 
remarks, and suggesting in an undertone, “Just what 
you eat, if you please.” We remembered that the birds 
in our yard are civilized birds, and so of course we gave 
them civilized food. 
If you are not well acquainted with the birds, we 
suppose you will be amused at our mention of bread 
and butter. But the birds make food a “matter of 
taste,” like other people. They have learned to like 
the flavor of things they never dreamed of eating when 
they were wild, just as some races of men leave off 
