Notes on Winter Feeding 



245 



The Juncos and the Sparrow ate seed 

 as Canaries do, ejecting the hulls, and 

 they also liked bread crumbs and nuts. 



The Mockingbird ate bread and milk, 

 and some of the birds drank from a tin of 

 water put there for them. Though not 

 singing at this time of year, they all, ex- 

 cept the Mockingbird, made themselves 

 known by their call-notes, and " Chickadee- 

 de-de," "Yank-yank" and the sharp 

 "click" of the Woodpeckers, together with 

 the warbles of Juncos and Tree Sparrows 

 and the occasional certain long-drawn-out 

 notes of the Chickadees, made it lively 

 around our house — for winter. 



The Tree Sparrows, though numerous, 

 coming with the Juncos, always fed on the 

 ground. 



The Tufted Tits were the first to sing, 

 and a loudly-whistled " Peto-peto-peto," 

 when the snow was still on the ground, was 

 a very pleising harbinger of spring. 



I wish to add that I made my shelf after a 

 plan seen in Bird-Lore, and thank the in- 

 ventor of it, as this shows it was successful. 

 The fact that it swings prevents English 

 Sparrows from using it. — Abbie Vreden- 

 BURGH, Curran, III. [A description and 

 cut of the device mentioned above are here 

 republished. — Ed.] 



From Campbellsville, Ky. 



Last winter, I cleared in the snow a place 

 about six feet square near my sitting-room 

 window and scattered in it grains of corn 

 and seeds from the barn floor. After the 

 snow had been on the ground more than a 

 week, I counted sixteen Cardinals at one 

 time feeding on the grains of corn. The 

 brilliant red of these birds, with the snow for 

 a background, made a beautiful scene. The 

 birds continued with us as long as the snow 

 lasted, being in evidence especially at morn- 

 ing until ten o'clock, and afternoon until 

 near dark. Seeds fiom the barn floor served 

 as food for several kinds of birds other than 

 the Cardinal; the Cardinals ate only the 

 corn. The first day I noticed a single Card- 

 inal and his mate I felt very much elated; 

 but, after this pair had fully advertised our 



feast among their starving brothers and 

 sisters and they flocked in sixteen strong, I 

 felt that I was extremely fortunate. This 

 beautiful sight attracted the attention of so 

 many persons who passed by our place that 

 quite a number of spreads were established 

 for our bird friends at other places. The 

 Cardinals nearly always came in pairs; the 

 day I counted sixteen, eight were males and 

 eight females, a strong tribute to their con- 

 jugal fidelity. 



As indicative of their appreciation, a pair 

 of Cardinals nested in the vines of our front 

 porch this summer, only a few feet from their 

 winter feeding place.' Very probably this 

 was one of the sixteen pairs. — William M. 

 Jackson, Campbetls'ville, Ky. 



Liqht sprinc) 



Yfindort 



,(»" 



Board fc ' ^^ 



Board loionq byfe'hiqK 



An Anti-Sparrow Food-Shelf 



Mr. W. W. Grant of Summit, N. J., 

 sends us the accompanying plan for a win- 

 dow food-shelf, to which, he writes, such 

 comparatively wild birds as Tanagers, Flick- 

 ers and others come, but which the English 

 Sparrow will not, after one trial, visit. A 

 board is hinged to the window-sill, and from 

 the far end (see cut) a string is run to the 

 top of the window, with a light spring be- 

 tween. When a bird alights on the plat- 

 form, the latter will swing up and down, 

 the amount of swing depending on the birds 

 and the weight of the spring, to which the 

 string is attached. 



