204 Twelve Months With 



become accustomed to the surroundings, a tray 

 may be built at the window sill, and the birds 

 will surely find it and will ultimately become 

 quite tame. A roof to keep off the snow is desir- 

 able, and a very attractive one for the birds may 

 be made out of heavy branches of coniferous trees. 

 I have also found that the nuthatches and wood- 

 peckers prefer to peck nuts out of upright limbs 

 or posts, and I have accommodated them by boring 

 small holes in the supports of my bird tray, and 

 tucking pieces of the nuts into them. This plan 

 has the added advantage of protecting the food 

 from the ubiquitous English sparrow, who is 

 wholly unable to walk up and down a perpen- 

 dicular surface, howsoever hungry he may be. 



Suet hung by a string from the lower branches 

 of a tree, or tied around the limbs, is always an 

 attractive food. Grain and nuts, especially pea- 

 nuts, will be eaten by most any of the winter birds. 

 In cold weather, meat scraps are acceptable, and 

 in line with modern ideas of conservation and 

 prevention of waste it would seem more reason- 

 able to place scraps of toast and crumbs from the 

 table just outside one's window for the birds, 

 rather than in the garbage can. I have found 

 that the occasional cardinal that comes my way 

 in winter is very fond of cantaloup seeds, and I 

 therefore save them every summer, and I dare 

 say my summer appetite for cantaloup is sharp- 

 ened by the thought that the seeds may attract a 

 cardinal to my window when the snows come. 



