ii2 FEEDING WILD BIRDS IN WINTER. 



do not move more than they can help, and peck 

 with the utmost rapidity, as though absolutely 

 starving. 



I suppose one ought to pity a " frozen out " 

 sparrow as much as any other bird, but I could 

 wish there were fewer of them at these times when 

 one wishes to befriend the rarer kinds of the birds, 

 and, if it were possible, reserve the food mainly for 

 them instead of the plebeian sparrows. 



The kind of provision I find best and most suit- 

 able for all tastes is coarsely ground oatmeal, 

 Indian corn, hemp-seed, sultana raisins, chopped- 

 up fat of any kind, and boiled liver cut up finely. 



The raisins attract the wild pheasants, and it is 

 a truly beautiful sight to watch these birds feeding 

 quietly near the window, with the morning sun 

 glancing upon their lovely sleek plumage until 

 they look as if made of bronze and gold. During 

 the autumn I have sacks of acorns and beech-mast 

 collected and laid by until the birds are distressed 

 for food, and then a large basketful is scattered 

 daily beneath the tulip-tree upon the lawn, to the 

 great delight of rooks, jackdaws, pheasants, and 

 wood-pigeons. Even two moorhens from my lake 



