24 BULLETIN 2 



NOTES FROM A BIRD TABLE. 



(An Abstract.) 

 MISS MARION BOLE. 



As a boarding house is a good place in which to study 

 human nature, so a bird table furnishes an excellent oppor- 

 tunity for the study of bird character. When observed 

 thus at close range especially after the birds have lost much 

 of their natural timidity, they often develop most unex- 

 pected traits. Who, for example, w^ould ever suspect the 

 gentle soft-voiced bluebird of being a tyrant? Certainly 

 nothing in my previous knowledge of the bird had prepar- 

 ed me for the action of a pair that nested in one of my 

 bird boxes last summer. They not only took possession of 

 the chickadee's table and drove the inoffensive woodpeckers 

 from their suet on the tree but they also laid claim to all of 

 the five bird houses which I had provided and after they 

 had selected one for their own use, the male bluebird made 

 it his business to see that the other four remained unoc- 

 cupied. 



Some birds, on the other hand, improve with longer 

 acquaintance. The blue jay, although he has such a bad re- 

 putation and is doubtless a sad rascal during the nesting 

 season, is most interesting and entertaining as a winter 

 boarder. I have never found the jays quarrelsome among 

 themselves, any number of them eating at the same table. 

 Never have I seen them molest the smaller birds. The jay 

 is naturally very shy and suspicious and it is no easy mat- 

 ter to gain his confidence, but he is also a very intelligent 

 bird and when once he loses his fear and begins to feel at 

 home he nroves himself the very best of company. 



One little trick that I saw was quite amusing. One 

 jay came late for his dinner and as the board was small 

 and the other jays were crowded around, there seemed to 

 be a poor prospect for the new-comer. He proved equal to 

 the occasion, however, for instead of trying to crowd in he 

 perched on the tree above the board and gave the jay alarm 

 signal. If a shot had been fired among them it could not 

 have been more effective. Every jay was out of sight in 

 less time than it takes to tell it. Then the rascal who had 

 given the alarm flew down and ate his dinner. I saw that 

 little trick played more than once, but the last time I saw it 

 tried one of the jays came back and had a settlement. 



Of course the chickadee is always a standby at every 

 winter bird table and he seems to be a general favorite, 



