jBtotes on 12ftinter JTeeUing 



From Dorchester, Mass. 



We live quite near to the city proper and 

 the electric cars, yet we have many bird visit- 

 ors who become very tame. Our methods of 

 feeding the birds in winter are very simple, 

 such as any householder could easily employ. 



We use mostly beef fat; preferably the 

 outside fat of the beef-leg. This we nail in 

 strips to the side or a shed where woodbine 

 overgrows it, so that the birds can sit on the 

 vine to pick the fat. We also have a wide 

 stick secured among the lower branches of a 

 pear tree, to which we tie the fat so that the 

 birds can stand on the stick to eat. 



Sometimes, having many small bits of fat, 

 we melt these slightly; so in winter they 

 soon cool into one mass, which is easily 

 secured for the eager birds. 



In an old apple tree we have nailed a 

 piece of board a foot square. To this we 

 sometimes tie a large soup-bone, after it has 

 served its purpose in the kettle, and the birds 

 are to be seen about it almost anytime pick- 

 ing at every bit of meat or gristle. We tie 

 it so that the cats cannot get it to the 

 ground. We also tie the bony frame of any 

 fowl, after it has become unfit for the table, 

 among the outer twigs of a tree away from 

 the reach of cats and dogs. 



No matter how deep the snow or how 

 fierce the wind, the birds are eating 

 by daylight and late at night. The 

 Blue Jay, Flicker, Downy Woodpecker 

 and Chickadee are frequent guests, be- 

 sides the ever-present English Sparrow. 

 Even Crows sometimes come near enough 

 to the house to carry ofif at once a piece of 

 fat large enough to last the smaller birds 

 several days. 



For many years we have had this great joy 

 of watching the birds eat of our bounty in 

 the cold and wintry storms. — Gertrude A. 

 Shattuck, Dorchester, Mass. 



From Lake George, N. Y. 



In the winter of 1903-04, I put suet into 

 trees on the south side of the house, only a 



few feet away, and soon noticed Blue Jays, 

 Chickadees, White - breasted Nuthatches 

 and Hairy Woodpeckers eating it. One 

 morning, I found the supply entirely gone, 

 and soon discovered that Crows had taken it. 

 I then tried to arrange some way in which I 

 could continue to feed the smaller birds, and 

 resorted to the following plan: 



I took a small-sized grape basket and cut 

 the top of it off to within about an inch of 

 the bottom, leaving that as a rim all around 

 for the birds to stand on, then I nailed it at 

 right angles on a strong stick, about 

 eighteen inches long and two inches wide, 

 and then nailed the free end of the stick to 

 the window ledge, leaving space to open 

 and shut the window easily. 



I had two or three trays, one from a 

 second-story window and one from the first. 

 Into them I put bread-crumbs and suet, ty- 

 ing the latter in, by putting cord around it, 

 and fastening it to the stick, just next the 

 tray; this kept it from falling out, when the. 

 birds pecked at it vigorously. 



Gradually, by shortening the stick, I 

 brought the trays nearer the windows, and 

 found that Chickadees, Nuthatches and an 

 occasional Woodpecker did not hesitate to 

 come to them, even though someone was 

 sitting on the window-seat. 



The trays were kept filled until the middle 

 of June and used daily, though only bread- 

 crumbs were put into them after the warm 

 weather came. 



One day in that month, a White-breasted 

 Nuthatch made twenty-three trips to the 

 tray. I have not had an opportunity to try 

 the plan again, but I think it might be 

 necessary first to put suet into nearby trees, 

 to attract the birds. — Ella F. Luther, 

 Lake George, N. Y. 



From Berlin, Conn. 



In these days of systematic winter feeding, 

 I think that our wild birds are not so likely 

 to suffer from hunger as from thirst. I have 

 reached this conclusion from observation of 



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