No. 4.] BIRDS ON THE FARM. 123 



the day. The fowls are not admitted to these sheds veiy 

 earl}^ on cold or storiuj' mornings. Two sheds having no 

 curtains, the sparrows invariably occupy them at such 

 times, even if they do not remain through the night. They 

 are protected from hawks and cats by the netting, and they 

 bus}' themselves in searching and scratching among the 

 litter for weed seeds and the small particles of grain over- 

 looked by the fowls. 



Here and in two open sheds at the barn the winter spar- 

 rows can always find food and shelter. The woods and 

 shrubl^ery around the g-arden offer the sparrows a refuge 

 to which they can retreat at the least sign of dano-er. This 

 is an advantage which not all gardens possess. The song- 

 sparrow and the junco do not like to go far afield if they 

 can secure food, as in this case, near cover. The snowflake, 

 on the contrary, seems to prefer open fields and pastures, 

 trusting perhaps to its protective coloring or to its skill in 

 flight, for it rarely stops in the vicinity of the garden. 



During the first winter some little attention had been 

 paid to methods for attracting the insect-feeding winter 

 birds. Animal food, such as bones, suet and dried meat, 

 was hung upon the fruit trees, and attracted some attention 

 from chickadees, jays, nuthatches and v/oodpeckers. These 

 and the sparrows formed a merry company, which served 

 to attract other birds, so that before the end of the winter 

 most of the commoner land birds found at that season 

 frequented the place. The effects of their presence was 

 noticeable in the scarcity of injurious insects in the spring. 

 The next problem in the sequence of the seasons was to in- 

 duce members of the spring flight of birds to remain with 

 us to breed. To this end it became necessarj^ to increase 

 the inducements to nest building, and offer material for 

 bird homes. 



As spring opened, the place was looked over to see what 

 nesting sites were available to those birds that prefer to 

 breed in hollow trees. There were practically none. The 

 recent tenant on the place had been allowed to use for fuel 

 such dead wood as he could find. He had availed himself 

 of his opportunities, until hardly a dead tree remained. 



