26o AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



Island line resulted in the choice of a small farm in Wareham, near the 

 head of Buzzards Bay. This place situated near the confluence of two 

 tidal rivers, appears to be in the direct line of bird migration on this 

 coast. Surrounded by open meadows, fields and diversified woods, 

 watered by brooks, flowing from living springs, within easy reach of 

 Plymouth woods, where the deer still roam, it offers unlimited oppor- 

 tunities for bird study. On the bay and the adjacent waters, seabirds 

 breed or migrate. Along the small streams, shore birds and herons 

 come and go. Here the Fish Hawk and Bald Eagle are commonly 

 seen. Waterfowl find sheltered resorts in many ponds in the great 

 woods. Hawks and owls also find in these woods secure nesting 

 places. The immediate surroundings of the farm are such that the 

 birds of field, orchard, wood, meadow and marsh, are always near at 

 hand. 



The first problem to be solved was how to attract them about 

 the farm and garden. We found here a grove of white pines about 

 four acres in extent, directly south of the house, which seemed to be 

 calculated for a natural retreat for Blue Jays. The first summer prov- 

 ed also that it was a great Robin roost. Hundreds of Robins roosting 

 there nightly when the berries with which the country teems, have 

 well ripened. Our first attempt at taming the Jays consisted of fast- 

 ening bones, meat and suet upon the trees near the house. The birds 

 were very wary for the first two or three months, but at last, one cold 

 morning in winter, they were seen busily engaged in securing food 

 from a "baited tree" near the house. 



Small branches were next fastened up to the kitchen and dining 

 room windows, and there the most tempting food was exposed. The 

 wary rascals watched from afar until the Chickadees and Nuthatches 

 had frequented these windows for about two months. They made 

 stealthy approaches, first coming to the thicket beyond the garden, 

 next to the old pear tree on the hither side, then to a small heap of 

 cinders thrown out to them to assist their digestion, and finally one snowy 

 morning in January a loud hammering began on the window sill at day- 

 break and there was Blue Jay helping himself. After that the Chickadees 

 got very little food at that window for a time, for the Jays would tear away 

 and carry off everything in the way of meat or suet that was put out. 

 Bones with shreds of flesh and cartilage on them were then nailed fast, 

 and the Jays soon became so tame that one could sit at the window and 

 watch their feeding, their antics, and their quarrels going on just out- 

 side the glass. It is indeed a novel sight to find three or four great 

 handsome Blue Jays about your window on a cold morning in Febru- 

 ary. By feeding the Jays a little all winter and putting out food 



