4 Bird - Lore 



They also come into the barnyards and feed with the chickens, and into the 

 gardens, where I have seen them jump up and strip the pole beans from the poles. 

 They eat almost any kind of weed seed, that of the burdock being a favorite. 

 ^"^i When we have heavy snows that lay on the ground for a long time, the 

 Pheasants have a very hard time of it and can be seen wandering over the fields, 

 searching every tuft of weeds, or in the apple trees picking at the frozen apples 

 that are still hanging to the trees. 



It was just such a time as this, in the winter of 1916, when the Pheasants 

 were almost famished, that we established the feeding-place described in the 

 last number of Bird-Lore. At first we could not get the Pheasants to come, so 

 we shoveled a path in the snow, leading off in the field, and scattered seeds along 

 in it. The English Sparrows were first to find the seed, and I think that they 

 were a help in directing the Pheasants to it. It was only a day or two before 

 three hens were coming up the trail, but it was nearly a week before a cock 

 bird came to the feeding-place. The hens came in increasing numbers every day. 

 From the swamp away across the field, they would come, singly and in twos 

 and threes, cautiously at first, then running rapidly in little spurts and stopping 

 often to look around, but they would all soon be at the feeding-place and mingle 

 with the Tree Sparrows, Horned Larks, and Snowflakes. We had great sport 

 for nearly a month watching and photographing these beautiful birds, but as 

 the snow began to go off and bare spots showed in the fields, they scattered, and 

 soon our feeding-place was deserted and only a memory. 



BLACK DUCKS 

 Photographed by Frank Levy, on the Pokiok River, N. B., June 20, 1919 



