Entertainment in Winter 133 



with which to tie it to the trunks and branches of 

 trees. The suet or other fat, which is, of course, 

 intended chiefly for the insectivorous birds, is 

 displayed in conspicuous places on the branches 

 of trees, and the string is wound round and round 

 so as to form a sort of net which prevents the 

 food from falHng to the ground even after it has 

 grown beautifully smaller under the attacks of 

 hungry birds. This network of string also pre- 

 vents a crow or a blue jay from carrying off the 

 whole lump at once. It has been found wise to use 

 three or four separate pieces of string, so that if 

 a squirrel comes along and cuts one of them, the 

 suet, being held by the others will not fall to the 

 ground. Another way to prevent troubles of 

 this kind is to flatten out a large lump of suet 

 against a tree trunk and fasten over it with staples 

 a square foot of half-inch wire netting. If the 

 upper edge is fastened rather lightly, this netting 

 may be made to form a pocket which may be 

 opened and stuffed with more suet as occasion 

 requires. Here any hungry bird can get a 

 meal on the spot, but no selfish one can leave his 

 fellows in distress by carrying home the whole 

 feast. 



As a rule, the best places to distribute grain, 

 seed, etc., are in the middle of wide-open fields 

 and pastures, which can be seen for a consider- 



