AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



13 



water^ while I scattered crumbs, nuts, squash seeds and suet around the 

 edges. The birds soon learned that the squirels could not trouble then on 

 the "restaurant/' as we called it, so they came there to eat without fear. 

 They showed a decided preference for the shag-bark nuts, which I cracked 

 for them, but were also fond of squash seeds. 



The Woodpeckers amused me very much b}^ their peculiar habit of hop- 

 ping up the tree, and, especially, in the way they backed down to the suet. 

 They would fly to the tree, alight some distance above the suet, and back 

 down by short ho^js to the place where a good breakfast awaited them. They 

 sometimes stay immovable near the suet for nearly ten minutes. The Nut- 

 hatches also do this ; one fell into this peculiar sleep upon my window-sill 

 while I opened the window and touched him. It is peculiar how well the birds 

 can tell time. They come at about the same time for weeks in succession to 

 get their meals. 



Now that the cold weather is over, the birds do not come so often. They 

 have not eaten out of my hand since the middle of April. I shall keep a 

 small supply of food upon the restaurant all the year round, so that the birds 

 may be sure of something, whenever their natural supply fails, as it often 

 does, after several days of rain. I hope the birds will be as tame next win- 

 ter as they were this and I shall do my best to see that they are well fed. 



The Restaurant. 



