26 WISCONSIN BIRD-STUDY BULLETIN. 



FEEDING WINTER BIRDS. 



After the long, leafless winter, the heart of man longs for the Ap''ij 

 rains to chase away the ice and snow. 



Those harbingers of spring, the robin, bluebird and meadow-iark 

 are greeted with as genuine a welcome as meets the return of a long 

 gone friend. After them comes the procession of the birds, slow and 

 straggling at first, then faster and denser as April gives way to 

 May; then a countless throng flitting, darting, flying, sweeping north- 

 ward, rollicking, singing^ visiting as they go. The dullest and busiest 

 of people see robins then ! Soon the flood has swept by. The few 

 scores of resident birdsi become commonplace and the southern migra- 

 tion, beginning in August, goes on so quietly and is so prolonged that 

 it attracts comparatively little attention. 



Then comes the most nearly birdless season. A few hardy way- 

 farers, either winter residents or visitors from the far north, glean 

 from berries, buds and seeds,, from wintering insect eggs, and pupae 

 not hidden by the great snow blanket, a more or less satisfactory 

 living. 



The increased interest in all birds in recent years, has led, in many 

 places, to a special interest in these winter birds, and efforts are made 

 to attract them about the home not so much foT the sake of the birds, 

 for they seldom need human aid, as for the human beings caged in 

 their homes by cold and storm. Then the visit of a chickadee to tbe 

 window-sill is an event. It gladdens the heart, quickens the sympath- 

 ies with the outside world and gives a new joy in living. 



It is coming to be a fairly frequent sight to see a bird table erected 

 near the home and spread daily or at short intervals with some such 

 materials as grain, cracked com, cracked nuts, hay seed, crumbs and 

 table scraps, bits of meat especially suet and a dish of water. The 

 table should be fastened to a tree, on a high post out of the reach of 

 cats, or against a convenient window^ sill. It will be difficult, if not 

 impossible, to keep the English sparrow away except by means of 

 poison or a gun. One would like to be merciful, and let the little 

 beasts feed and welcome were it not for harboring tramps and in- 

 creasing the troubles of the spring-time nesting. 



A suggestion is offered in Bird Lore that is worth trying as it 

 is reported to have. worked well in New Jersey and Illinois. 



A board six inches wide and] two feet long is hinged at one end to 

 the window sill in such a way as to allow the outer end of the board 

 to drop. The board is held about level by a string fastened to its 

 outer end and to the top of the window. In this string, i. e., form- 

 ing a part of it, a thin or light spiral spring is fastened. The food 

 and water dish are placed at the outer end of the board. When a 

 bird alights the feeding board teeters up and down. The author of 



*W. W. Grant, Summit, N. J., in Bird Lore. Sept.-Oct. 1905. 



