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Bird - Lore 



and Cedar Waxwings. A Brown Creeper 

 and Red-breasted Nuthatch fed at my 

 stations, with Chickadees, White-breasted 

 Nuthatches, and Downies. The Chickadees 

 and Nuthatches fed from my hands and 

 several more confiding ones took nuts from 

 my lips. 



A dead tree so full of holes that we call 

 it the 'apartment stub' held at once in 

 its many openings a Flicker, Downy, and 

 a Bluebird, but the latter was driven off by 

 an English Sparrow. The Chickadees 

 made many holes in a fickle manner, half 

 finishing them and then taking others. — 

 (Dr.) Anne E. Perkins, Collins, N. Y. 



BLUEBIRDS AT HOME 

 Photographed by Lester Morlock, Plymouth, Ind. 



Hanging the Bird-House 



Like other bird-lovers I have found the 

 annual putting up and taking down of 

 bird-houses to be a good deal of a nuisance, 

 and the means of attaching them to trees 

 or other supports by means of nails or 

 screws a very unsatisfactory method. Re- 

 cently I hit upon a plan which I have 



tried out for a season and found very use- 

 ful. 



Instead of fastening the house up with 

 nails I make a small hole on each side of 

 the box, near the roof and near the back. 

 Through these holes, and extending about 

 a foot on each side, I slip a piece of strong 

 but flexible wire. The wire must be strong 

 enough to support the box, but not so 

 heavy that it may not be easily bent. 

 I then drive two nails into the tree or other 

 support on which the box is to be hung, and 

 a little higher up than the place for the 

 box to rest. The nails should be about a 

 foot further apart than the width of the 

 box. The wire I then twist about these 

 nails, making sure that the box hangs 

 straight down and is level. It will be found 

 that this supports the box firmly against the 

 tree, and that the wire is practically 

 invisible. A few seconds' time is sufficient 

 in which to untwist the wire and take the 

 box down, or place it in position. The 

 nails may remain in place for use again. 

 Heavy wire, with hooks formed at each 

 end for attaching to the nails, is a satis- 

 factory arrangement, but requires more 

 careful work in accurately measuring 

 distances, etc., the first time the box is 

 hung. — Emily A. Corning, St. Paul, 

 Minn. 



Birds and Salt 



I was much interested in what Esther 

 Reeks, Boulder, Colo., said about 'House 

 Finches Eating Salt' in September-Octo- 

 ber Bird-Lore, 1920 (page 286). It was 

 the first published note on salt-eating by 

 birds I have ever seen. From some cas- 

 ual observations I have made, I have 

 been led to believe that some birds like 

 salt nearly as well as cattle, horses and 

 other animals, and if they had access to it 

 at all times, a general liking for it would 

 soon be developed. 



Across the road from our house, in a 

 pasture, there is a trough where barrel 

 salt is kept most of the time. English 

 Sparrows can be seen on and around this 

 trough nearly every day, and if one looks 

 closely, they can be seen industriously 

 picking away at the salt. While they are 



