120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



and the skulls so strong that most of the enemies of these birds 

 cannot get at the eggs or the young. A wren has been known 

 to use a human skull for the same purpose. Mr. Harold Bailey 

 showed me how Carolina wrens built their nests in old tin cans 

 thrown into the bushes that line the steep banks of the river 

 at Newport News, Virginia. The house wren has been known 

 to use old straw hats and felt hats hung up out of doors, or 

 even the pocket of a coat hung up and forgotten. 



New and Inexpensive Feeding Appliances. 



Mr. Lee, whose nesting boxes- have been referred to on a pre- 

 vious page, has also perfected inexpensive and successful feed- 

 ing appliances to attract birds. Many people now believe that 

 a number of small feeding places for birds are more useful 

 than one large one, as the birds are less likely to quarrel over 

 them. Mr. Lee has invented a substitute for the rather ex- 

 pensive German food bell. This consists merely of a bottle, a 

 tube, a galvanized iron or zinc shield, and a small earthenware 

 tray such as is used under small flower pots. Almost any one 

 can make this arrangement with perhaps a little help from the 

 tinman. (See Plate VI.) 



The bottle is filled with bird seed or fine chick feed and 

 placed in the hanger, then turned upside down and hung in a 

 tree. This hanging device has been tested for parts of two 

 seasons. The birds come to it readily and the seed is well pro- 

 tected from rain or snow. It comes down as the birds eat it 

 from the tray, and if either bottle or tray is broken another 

 may be secured in almost any town. 



The large box shown on Plate VI. is used for feeding scraps 

 from the table to birds in winter. All scraps and waste from 

 kitchen and table may be utilized thus in winter by those who 

 do not keep hens or pigs. The box is hung up in the trees to 

 baffle dogs, cats and rats. At first, the cover is left off so that 

 the birds may find the food, and those who desire to feed crows 

 may leave the box uncovered most of the time. Crows do little 

 harm in winter and much good. If it is desired to feed only 

 smaller birds, and perhaps squirrels, the cover may be replaced 

 after the birds have become accustomed to feed from the box, 

 and there will be room enough at the sides for them to get in. 



