31^ 



Bird - Lore 



Quick Lunch 



The snowstorm that came so early in 

 December, 191 5, brought with it, as usual, 

 a host of winter birds, quite willing to 

 sample every kind of food placed for them. 



This willingness soon grew to be a per- 

 sistent desire for 'quick lunch.' Two food- 

 boxes, each with shelf for crumbs for 

 seed-eaters, and a large table on the porch 



A HOME-MADE FOOD BOX 



Wire screen fastened at bottom with two double-pointed tacks 



with a hook at the top. When unfastened the wire 



drops like a lid 



Photographed by Margaret S. Hitchcock 



against the window, covered with all kinds 

 of crumbs, furnishes food, so far, for two 

 pairs of Downy Woodpeckers, one pair of 

 Nuthatches, several pairs of Chickadees, 

 dozens of Juncos, Tree Sparrows, and two 

 or three Song Sparrows. 



It is extremely interesting to study the 

 great energy and the charm, of these birds. 

 The Nuthatches always come with great 

 haste, tucking crumbs under the bark, 

 hiding many times more than they can eat; 

 then along comes the Downy toward the 

 box, hitching upward or downward, no 

 difference to him, and gracefully eating the 

 crumbs the Nuthatch has hidden as he 



comes. The Chickadees flitting hither and 

 yon, now at the boxes, now at the table, 

 on the ground, everywhere; Juncos and 

 Sparrows, hopping on the ground under- 

 neath, getting every tiny bit that drops, 

 never an atom wasted. This is the busy 

 time for our winter birds. And does it 

 pay? you ask. Ah, if I could but express 

 my feeling of gratitude for their confidence 

 and companionship ! They verily act as if 

 they had found an enchanted 

 garden. The Chickadees eat 

 from the hand, and when 

 the door is open come inside, 

 look about, fly here and 

 there, and, when quite ready, 

 fly out again; but then we 

 have long since parted with 

 pussy, and it pays. We loved 

 our cats always, but we find 

 we love the freedom of the 

 birds more. 



When the suet in the food- 

 box gets low, the Downy al- 

 ways calls persistently, with 

 his metallic chirp, to say it 

 is 'most empty. We under- 

 stand each other. I place 

 more suet in the box, and I 

 do not hear his voice, except 

 occasionally, farther away, 

 until it is quite gone again; 

 then comes his low persistent 

 chirping, at the same time 

 stretching his neck and bob- 

 bing his head, to see if I am 

 not coming. Then the happy 

 chirping of each one all day proclaims 

 food a-plenty. — Margaret S. Hitchcock, 

 R. D. No. 2, Morristoivn, N. J. 



A Minnesota Feeding-Station 



The feeding-station near my house in 

 this city has been and is of unusual inter- 

 est this winter. 



December 23 was a 'red-letter day.' 

 During the noon hour, we saw for the first 

 time a flock of eight Evening Grosbeaks. 

 We had looked for these birds every winter, 

 but never before had we been so fortunate 

 as to see any here. They were first seen 



