12 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



He turned back several times, but became bolder. At length he reached for- 

 ward and pecked my hand with all his might. He found my hand was harm- 

 less so he reached forward from the wire and picked up some crumbs. He 

 grew bolder each daj^ until he liopped into my hand and ate the crumbs 

 there. Other Chickadees followed his example and a Red-breasted Nuthatch 

 soon plucked up courage enough to come too. This Red-breasted Nuthatch 

 came to my hand but four times, tliree times reaching over from the window- 

 sill to get a large crumb to fly away with, and once coming to my hand 

 while it was held in mid air, staying there while he ate many crumbs. A 

 month later I photographed a Chickadee on my hand; the result may be seen 

 in the accompanying picture. Having learned through experience that the 

 birds preferred doughnut crumbs to all others, I always placed doughnut 

 crumbs on my hand, never giving them to the birds from any other place. 



As the squirrels chased so many birds from the trees, I tried to think of 

 some way by which I could feed the birds where the squirrels would not be 

 able to bother them. I made a board platform, with a narrow side all around 

 and inserted a wire in each of the four corners, which I joined to a single 

 wire at the top. By means of a pulley, I pulled the platform from raj win- 

 dow to the tree. I made a hole in the center in which I put a trough for 



Downy Woodpecker. 



