236 



SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



food for the insect-eating bird is suet. The best foods for 



the seed-eating birds are sunflower seeds, hemp, millet, nuts, 



grains, and crumbs. 



Methods of offering the food. Food may be put out in a 



great variety of ways: on the ground, on shelves, in suet 



baskets, in automatic 

 hoppers, on a moving 

 counter, or in Audu- 

 bon and weathercock 

 food houses. One of 

 the simplest ways to 

 put food out is to 

 trample down a spot 

 in the snow and scat- 

 ter out crumbs and 

 grains. 



Various kinds of 

 shelves may be use4- 

 They may consist 



FIG. 88. Suet baskets. 



simply of a board, 

 with a narrow strip 



around the edge, which may be fastened to a tree or post, or 

 be placed on the window sill. A suet box can easily be made. 

 A piece of board 5 or 6 inches square serves as the back. 

 Around two sides and the bottom of this are nailed strips 

 about i^ inches wide. Over this is fastened a piece of hard- 

 ware cloth or of poultry netting with small meshes. This 

 may be suspended by means of a screw eye at the top. Suet 

 may also be fastened on a branch by tying a string around it. 

 Automatic feeders on the principle of poultry hoppers 

 can be bought or easily made. (See figure 89.) The large 

 hopper is filled with seeds and grain, which come out of 

 a small opening at the bottom leading to a shelf. As 

 fast as the seeds are eaten, others fall down to take their 

 place. 





