16 



FARMERS BULLETIN 609. 



FIG. 42. Food shelter for attachment to trunk 

 of tree. 



and fox squirrels are occasionally troublesome. It is not necessary, 

 however, that bird lovers should wage indiscriminate warfare against 



all squirrels. It is far better to 

 adopt the rule never 

 squirrel unless there is 

 reason to believe that 

 it has acquired the 

 habit of eating eggs 

 or young birds; the 

 result will probably 

 be that not more than 

 one red squirrel in fifty . 



nor more t nan one 

 g rav squirrel in a hun- 

 dred will have to be 

 killed. Where squir- 

 rels are numerous they 

 give more or less trouble by gnaw- 

 ing and disfiguring houses. This damage may be prevented, however, 

 by covering the parts about the entrance with tin or zinc. 



FOOD SHELTERS. 



Another means of attracting birds about human habitations is to 

 furnish an abundance of food, 

 preferably in food shelters. If 

 one is unable to make shelters 

 that will protect food in all kinds 

 of weather, the food may be fas- 

 tened to trunks or branches of 

 trees or scattered in sheltered 

 places on the ground. A de- 

 cided advantage in having 

 shelters, aside from that of pro- 

 tecting food, is that they may 

 be placed where the birds can be 

 watched conveniently. When 

 shelters are used the birds are 

 first baited by placing food, such 

 as suet, seeds, or cracked nuts, 

 in a conspicuous place, and then 

 led by degrees to enter the in- 

 closure. Designs for two food 

 shelters are exhibited in figures 



a/- 



FlG. 43. Vertical section, side to side, with sug- 

 gestions for larder; diagrammatic and cross sec- 

 tion of food shelter shown in figure 42. 



42 and 46, one of which is supported by a post, the other by a tree. 

 Structural details are shown for both. There is no bottom to either 

 of them. 



