1104 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



length of the window sill or only a part ; but the larger 

 it is, the more birds will feed together, for our native 

 birds all want plenty of elbow room while feeding. A 

 narrow strip should be fastened to the edge of the shelf 

 to keep the food from blowing off. At the westerly end 

 a small evergreen tree or large branch should be fastened. 

 This offers shelter to the birds and proves as attractive 

 as the food itself. It may be nailed to the window casing, 

 or a hole may be bored in the shelf to hold it. It should 

 be as large as can be conveniently held in place. 



An even better device than the window shelf is the 

 window feeding bo.x here 

 illustrated. An ordinary 

 soap box is used and the 

 bottom replaced by a pane 

 of glass so as to admit 

 plenty of light. One side 

 is then rested on the win- 

 dow sill and the inner end 

 nailed to the casing, while 

 the closed glass side faces 

 the north and the box 

 opens to the south. This 

 bo.x has the advantage of 

 protecting the food from 

 the snow and ice so that it 

 is always available when 

 most needed. Evergreen 

 branches or a small tree 

 fastened nearby will help 

 its attractiveness. 



In many places house 

 sparrows are so numerous 

 that they will consume all 

 of the food as fast as it is 

 put out and leave none for 

 the native birds, so that it 

 is necessary to find some 

 way to curb their enthusi- 

 asm. A very simple, yet 

 effective way of protecting 

 the food from their depre- 

 dations is to hinge the front 

 half of the floor of the box 

 and support it at the 

 comers by weak springs 

 so that when a bird alights it 

 House sparrows are naturally 



through the open even to get food placed for them. 

 Another simple form of feeding shelf for such a place 

 in the yard is made from the top of a keg or barrel, 

 protected from the weather by a hood improvised from 

 barrel hoops and a piece of white cloth and covered 

 with a few evergreen twigs, as here illustrated. The 

 front half of this may likewise be hinged to keep away 

 the sparrows, and it may rest on a pivot and be provided 

 with wings like a weather vane, so that it will always face 

 away from the wind and snow. Various modifications 

 of this device will undoubtedly occur to the reader. 



If nothing but sparrows 

 come to be fed, one should 

 not get discouraged, be- 

 cause they will act as de- 

 coys and, eventually, their 

 chirping will call other 

 more desirable birds to the 

 feast. One need not fear 

 that they will drive the 

 other birds away, for, next 

 to the chickadee, the 

 sparrow is the biggest cow- 

 ard of the lot, and fre- 

 quently a single nuthatch 

 will put a whole flock of 

 them to route. 



AFTKR YOU, SIR 



A simple form of feeding stielf for the yard with a chickadee waiting 

 for a junco to iinish. The shelf is made from the top of a small 

 barrel; the hood from pieces of the hoops covered with white cloth 

 and decorated with hemlock. The shelf is placed on a post four or five 

 feet from the ground located preferably near shrubbery or evergreens. 



XOTES 



Early in November the 

 Ijoy Scouts of Mt. Vernon, 

 X. Y., were told by Mr. 

 Rockart, of the Shade Tree 

 Commission, how the 

 scouts could build bird 

 houses under his supervi- 

 sion to be sold to the resi- 

 dents of Mount Vernon, 

 thus keeping more birds 

 with us through the winter. 

 The birds are of untold 

 worth to the city, not only 

 for their beauty and songs, 

 but particularly for their 

 great assistance in fight- 

 ing all kinds of insects 



bounces up and down, 

 so suspicious that when 

 they feel the shelf give way beneath them, they lose no 

 time in getting out of the way and never stop long 

 enough to get any of the food. Our native birds, on the 

 other hand, arc unsuspicious and accustomed to feeding 

 about the swaying branches of trees, so that the more the 

 shelf bounces, the more they seem to like it. 



In case there is not a satisfactory window at which to 

 feed the birds, this lx)x can be placed on a post in the yard 

 four or five feet from the ground. An evergreen tree, a 

 bit of shrubbery, or a pile of brush should be in the 

 near vicinity to serve as a way station from the nearest 

 trees, for most of the birds hesitate to fly long distances 



injurious to the trees of the city. 



FELLING EGYPT'S TREES 



T' 



'HE trees of Syria are falling fast before Turkish 

 axes, and their loss will be heavily felt when the 

 war is over. Owing to lack of fuel, the fine pine 

 forest on the outskirts of Beirut, a popular resort for the 

 people of the city, is fast disappearing. But a severer 

 economic loss will entail on the immense and rich olive 

 plantations lying on the stretch of plain between the sea 

 and Lebanon. It takes years before olive trees begin to 

 bear, and the prosperity of thousands has depended on 

 the crops of these orchards. 



