CHAPTER IV 
FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER AND IN UNFAVORABLE 
WEATHER AT OTHER SEASONS 
THE greater part of this chapter has been kindly con- 
tributed by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Davenport of Brattleboro, 
Vt., who has had much experience in feeding birds. 
I hope that especially many boys and girls will follow 
her precept and example. 
“The first thing in feeding birds is to consider the 
environment, and consequently what species are to be 
first invited. My surroundings are an apple orchard, 
with groves of conifers not far off, and much lawn and 
garden space. But we are only a hundred feet or so 
from a main street in a closely settled village. 
“JT put split bones in which the marrow is accessible 
and other bones with some suet upon the apple tree 
boughs, and also nailed large pieces of suet upon per- 
pendicular trunks. Chickadees, nuthatches, and downy 
woodpeckers found them almost immediately. A box 
open only on one side, and the closed side turned 
toward the prevailing wind was fastened to the trunk 
of a tree some twenty-five feet from the house. An 
additional board on the top projected several inches to 
give still further protection. In this box I put cracked 
corn and broken bread. A shelf at a near-by window 
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