The Audubon Societies 
tendance as any of the other birds, al- 
though they preferred to forage on a pile 
of house refuse at the extreme end of the 
garden; however, on several occasions I 
saw them feeding within twenty feet of 
the kitchen porch. The food counters were 
used until late in the spring, especially by 
a pair of Nuthatches. They were so well 
pleased with their surroundings that they 
concluded to remain, and they took pos- 
session of one of the horizontal von Ber- 
lepsch boxes, size E, and started nesting. 
Unfortunately a pair of Starlings fancied 
the same box, and one morning I found the 
body of the female Nuthatch lying dead on 
the ground under the box; her skull had 
been pecked open, presumably by one of 
the Starlings. Both English Sparrows and 
Starlings commenced to occupy the boxes 
by February 22, and became pests as they 
fought and drove away several pairs of 
Bluebirds, which would otherwise have 
nested. Only one pair of Bluebirds suc- 
ceeded in nesting. My gardener was in- 
structed to drive away the Starlings from 
this box, and finally they abandoned 
further efforts to occupy it, and the Blue- 
birds were permitted to remain in peace. 
House Wrens arrived April 25. In 1909, 
one brood of Wrens was raised, but this 
year three broods—one pair had two 
broods, while a second pair raised a brood 
at the opposite end of the yard. These 
boxes (Size Az) were within two hundred 
feet of each other, but there was no clash- 
ing between the birds, although they are 
usually rather pugnacious in disposition. 
Robins, Song, and Chipping Sparrows bred 
on the place. 
Plainfield has one large colony of Mar- 
tins, which occupy four large houses on 
the main business street of the town. I 
was in hopes that some of this colony might 
overflow, and occupy the two ten-room 
houses set up by my neighbor and myself. 
On two occasions, Martins came to the 
houses, and attempted to alight and in- 
vestigate; but in both instances they were 
attacked and driven away by English 
Sparrows. Not a Starling or English Spar- 
row was permitted to breed on my place; 
as fast as they built nests they were de- 
211 
stroyed. The Starlings abandoned all 
further attempts toward the latter part 
of June, but the English Sparrows did not 
cease until the middle of August. In my 
garden I have a large bed of marigolds, 
and also about one hundred sunflower 
plants. Both of these have attracted many 
Goldfinches, who seem quite as fond of the 
seeds of the marigold as of the sunflowers. 
It was not an unusual sight to see half a 
dozen male Goldfinches feeding at the 
same time; I have never yet seen a female 
with them. 
My conclusions are as follows: If a lib- 
eral supply of different kinds of food is 
furnished, birds will surely be attracted 
in the winter, and will do a great deal of 
good. I noticed very often that the 
Downies and Nuthatches would take a 
few mouthfuls of suet or pork and would 
then forage on the trees. One particular 
tree, a small elm, in the summer of 1909, 
was almost defoliated by a small black 
caterpillar; this year it was troubled very 
little. It is true that the tree was sprayed 
once early in the spring, but I attribute 
its healthy condition this year to the ef- 
fective work done during the winter to my 
bird guests. 
If plenty of drinking and bathing places 
and a liberal supply of breeding boxes are 
furnished the birds on a given area, they 
will surely increase. My garden, this 
year, has been singularly free from insect 
pests. I believe that I attracted some of 
my neighbors’ birds, especially Robins, 
by keeping a large, shallow box filled with 
clear water all the time. This was placed 
about the center of the garden along the 
main walk. I have seen as many as a 
dozen Robins about it at once. Close by 
T had a very large aster bed, and, much to 
my satisfaction, on one occasion I saw 
Robins picking off the plants those dis- 
couraging, as well as disgusting, black in- 
sects known as aster beetles. My rasp- 
berries were not touched by the birds, and 
I am positive I did not lose a quart of 
them; this I attribute to the fact that the 
birds were kept supplied with water. 
It is unfortunately a fact that the 
greater the effort to attract birds, the 
