SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



, Address all communications to the Editor of the School Department, National 

 Association of Audubon Societies, 141 Broadway, New York City 



OCTOBER AND PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER 



If you have not already set- 

 tled the location for your lunch- 

 counter, and begun to spread 

 it with tempting tid-bits, you 

 should do so at once. 



Whatever form this table may 

 take, either a partly roofed shelf 

 surrounding a tree, a bracket 

 against the side of the house, or 

 merely an extension to the vi^in- 

 dow sill, it should be made of 

 weathered wood and be wholly free from the taint of new paint. 



Birds love the old and are distrustful of the new and glittering. It is a good 

 plan, when time serves, to make a collection of old boards or mossy shingles, 

 that are so often discarded when old buildings are repaired, and keep them 

 ready; for there is nothing better than such material either for birds' houses or 

 feeding-boxes. 



Also, do not wait until the natural food-supply is cut off, and most of the birds 

 have gone, before you offer them daily rations ; for the fact that food lies close 

 at hand may win for you many winter friends that otherwise would pass on. 

 Hungry birds will eat many things that do not belong strictly to bird diet, but two 

 articles I have found will suffice for all species, and gray squirrels as well, if you 

 have any in the neighborhood, — suet in good-sized lumps that. will not be torn 

 to shreds too soon for the Woodpeckers and all other tree-trunk climbing birds, 

 and any one of the various dog-biscuits broken into pieces of various sizes, rang- 

 ing from that of a chestnut, which Jays and Nuthatches love to pound up to suit 

 their taste, to crumbs that tempt the Junco, Tree Sparrow, Purple Finch, Snow- 

 flake, and even the Robin and Bluebird. As for the Chickadee, bless his brave 

 little heart! he will take both meat and bread and nod you thanks between 

 courses. 



The suet may remain on the counter until it is consumed, but be careful to put 

 only enough of the biscuit out each morning for the day's use, as, if it becomes 

 water-soaked and lacks crispness, it not only loses its seed-like quality and ceases 

 to be tempting, but is unwholesome for birds accustomed to digest either dry 

 seeds or juicy fruits but not pultaceous masses. — M. O. W. 



(224) 



