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My Bird Restaurant 



BY EDMUND W. SINNOTT (Aged 15), Bridgewater, Mass. 



ONE of the best ways to stud}' birds in winter is to attract them 

 around your home. I did this very successfully last winter by 

 tying bits of suet to the trees near our house and by scattering 

 crumbs upon the ground. I put out a few pieces of meat one morning, 

 and the next day this was discovered by a Downy Woodpecker, and soon 

 the news spread all over birddom that a great free lunch had come to 

 town. 



One of my regular guests is the Chickadee. He is around early, and 

 stays near by all day. He is the merriest bird I ever saw, and is always 

 singing — rain, snow or fair weather. He seems to be content with the 

 few pieces that he can find on the ground, if a larger bird is at the 

 piece in the tree. He also delights in the little boxful of tidbits that I 

 have placed among the branches of the tree. He very seldom comes 

 alone, but generally has several of his companions with him. 



Another regular guest is the White -breasted Nuthatch. It is very 

 interesting to watch him eat. He will stand with his head downward, 

 bending his body far back, and delivering two or three hard blows. If he 

 breaks a piece off, he will put it in a crevice of the bark where it can be 

 properly supported as he eats it. He has a very harsh, nasal call — quank, 

 quank — by which he may be recognized when he arrives. 



Almost any time when I look from my window, I can see a Downy 

 Woodpecker at some of the meat. There are four of them, two males 

 and two females. I fear that Mr. Woodpecker, in each case, is a hen- 

 pecked husband ; for whenever he is at the meat and Mrs. Woodpecker 

 arrives, he always gets out of the way as fast as he can. Both Mr. and 

 Mrs. are very selfish, and will not let any of the other birds come near 

 while they are eating. They can be told apart quite easily, for Mr. 

 Downy has a bright scarlet patch on the back of his head, while in Mrs. 

 it is lacking. 



Another guest, who is not quite so regular in his coming, is the Brown 

 Creeper. He is a very dainty little bird, and does not stop and gorge him- 

 self as the Woodpeckers do, but takes a delicate mouthful of suet and 

 then goes on, hitching up the trunk in little jerks, investigating every 

 nook and cranny of the bark in his search for insects' eggs and larvae. 

 He is never still, even when eating some choice tidbit he has found, but 

 is always restless. 



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