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Bird - Lore 



and about fifteen feet above the ground, 

 nailed against the trunk of the tree, I keep 

 a chunk of suet or fat beef. 



The birds that come regularly for a 

 portion of their fare are the White-breasted 

 Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, 

 Brown Creeper, Hairy and Downy Wood- 

 peckers, Blue Jay and more rarely the 

 Tufted Titmouse, Cardinal, and Slate- 

 colored Junco. I regard all of these 

 species as desirable excepting the Blue 

 Jay, whose presence I discourage. I will 

 here give my reasons for this inhospitable 

 treatment of Mr. Jay. I have observed 

 Jays robbing the nests of the Catbird, the 

 Orchard Oriole, and the Mourning Dove, 

 and I have no doubt they rob the nests of 

 all other small birds when they find them. 

 I have also seen the Blue Jay steal the 

 domestic hen's eggs and catch and 

 devour full-grown Juncos and Tree Spar- 

 rows, also young chickens from a few days 

 up to two weeks of age. He is regarded 

 with suspicion by all the smaller birds, 

 and whenever he comes to the suet or 

 lunch-counter all the other birds instantly 

 disappear and are not seen again until Mr. 

 Jay is safely despatched or gone out of sight. 



All the regular boarders named above 

 partake of both the suet and the fare on the 

 lunch-counter, but the Woodpeckers pre- 

 fer the suet, while the others spend most 

 of their time on the shelf. The Titmouse 

 and Junco come to the shelf only occa- 

 sionally, and the Brown Creeper contents 

 himself usually by picking up the small 

 particles dropped by the others. There is 

 scarcely a minute of daylight when some 

 of our bird guests are not present; but 

 they are all somewhat pugnacious, and it 

 is very rare that more than one is found 

 on the shelf or at the suet at one time. 

 Several of the Chickadees will feed at 

 once, but the others will not associate 

 with them or with each other. 



The antics of the Hairy Woodpecker, 

 when he comes down from the suet to the 

 shelf, are most ludicrous. He always 

 crawls down backward, with many obeis- 

 ances from one side to the other, and look- 

 ing backward now on this side and now on 

 that, occasionally advancing a little, then 



backing again, until he finally gets down 

 to the shelf and, after impressively duck- 

 ing his head a few times, he eats with 

 great relish. But he always alights at the 

 suet, and goes through these maneuvers 

 every time he comes to the lunch-counter. 

 Our shade trees and small orchards are 

 usually quite free from insects in the sum- 

 mer time, and for this I give credit in 

 large measure to our winter birds, as well 

 as to those that come in the spring. — 

 E. D. Nauman, Sigourney, Iowa. 



A Sparrow-proof, Individual Feeding- 

 Device 



With the thought in mind that the time 

 to pass along ideas is when interested in 

 them, and with the additional impulse of 

 the full spring song of the Song Sparrow, 

 February i, due in this case to winter- 

 feeding, I am led to offer my plan for 

 feeding, hoping to interest someone 



TREE SPARROW ON SWINGING 

 FOOD-DISH 



Photographed by Wilbur F. Smith 



troubled with the House Sparrow and 

 Starling, and desirous of attracting other 

 birds about the home. 



Begin in the autumn to throw out chick- 

 feed or other fine seed anywhere — a very 

 Httle will advertise the spot — and try not 

 to be without this bait until cold weather 



