KNOWING THE WINTER BIRDS 129 



Before going far afield we shall do well to pay at- 

 tention to the birds that come to our very doors, seek- 

 ing food in the time of scarcity. The good custom 

 of putting out food for the birds has now become very 

 general. The insectivorous kinds enjoy a piece of 

 suet, fastened in a tree. It is well to place it by a 

 window where it can be watched readily. 



In a mild winter, when food is easy to get, the birds 

 may not use it very much, but let there come a heavy 

 fall of snow followed by bitter cold, and they will 

 be glad to accept our hospitality. In some severe 

 winters I have had birds in numbers at my lunch 

 counter almost constantly every day. Perhaps most 

 numerous will be the little black-capped chickadee, 

 with his breezy manner and cheering songs. 



Usually a very regular customer is the little black- 

 and-white-spotted downy woodpecker. The hairy 

 woodpecker, which looks just like his downy cousin, 

 but is quite a bit larger, sometimes comes, but it is a 

 shyer bird and generally less plenty. Another fa- 

 miliar friend is the white-breasted nuthatch, an ex- 

 ceedingly vivacious fellow, blue-gray above, with 

 black or blackish crown, and white beneath, a regular 

 acrobat who climbs like a woodpecker and is as apt to 

 run headlong down a tree as up it. The saucy blue 

 jay may also pay his respects. 



The seed-eating birds do not care for the suet, so 

 for them there should be a supply of seed or small or 

 crushed grain placed out near house or barn in some 

 warm, sheltered spot, with a cover above it to keep 



