-8 Bird - Lore 



I held out about the nuts until the following day, when he came to meet 

 me as I approached our front door after a marketing trip. He flew from the 

 west maple, lighted on the top of the spindle of the lower blind nearest me, 

 came down the spindle as he comes down the trunk of a tree, inverted, head up 

 and his 'conversational twitter' transformed into a genuine teasing tone! 

 Could anyone resist such an appeal? And now do you wonder that my window 

 stands open in all kinds of weather, and that I cast aside such frills as curtains 

 that blow and shades that flap, in order to receive every winter such a delight- 

 ful guest? 



The Staghorn Sumac 



By E. A. DOOLITTLE, PainesviUe, Ohio 



THERE is one tree to which we ornithologists and bird-lovers of the more 

 northern states should gratefully lift our hats — the staghorn sumac, 

 Rhus typhina. In the sense of providing food for birds it holds a peculiar 

 place and has two attributes possessed by no other, namely, it never fails to 

 bear fruit and the fruit stays on the tree. Besides, it is abundant and freely 

 distributed: let it get a start along a fence-row and it marches along in both 

 directions, without loss in the center; let it start at the foot of a barren hill- 

 side and as certain as fate it will reach the crest; on flat lands or in neglected 

 fields it will form round, even-topped thickets, and in places preoccupied by 

 other trees and shrubs it lives, and waits. So we, and, incidentally, the birds, 

 may be thankful that there is a class of land-owners who do not cut out the 

 sumac until it is a case of cut sumac or buy a new farm. Virtually, it is a weed 

 among trees, but, hke lots of other weeds, it has a beauty of its own in the num- 

 erous red fruit-cones at the apex of the branches, and most bird-lovers know, 

 I presume, that these seed clusters are a food-supply for numerous species of 

 birds; but do we all recognize the most important part the sumac plays, rela- 

 tive to the birds' bill-of-fare? 



It may surprise some when I state that my personal conviction is that the 

 birds do not like the sumac seeds. Ever eat a few yourself? I am much addicted 

 myself to tasting and eating all sorts of wild fruit, berries, seeds, leaves, barks, 

 and roots, and find that for pure 'cussedness' the seeds of sumac rank third 

 after wild crabapples and Indian turnip. The taste is sour, very, very sour; 

 otherwise they appear to consist of very hard, flat seeds covered with red hair. 

 There may be a thin flesh also, as they are classed as a sort of dry drupe, but for 

 ordinary purposes, including food, they are hard stones, red velvet, and acid. 

 Perhaps a bird's taste is different from mine, and maybe the fur tickles their 

 palates in a pleasing manner, but taste is not my chief reason for thinking the 

 birds do not like the sumac's offering. 



Just so long as there are other fruits, berries, or insects about, you will 



