4 METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



Winter Mortality among Birds 



In order to emphasize the need of furnishing 

 food and shelter for the winter birds as a prac- 

 tical means of protecting them from the inclem- 

 encies of the elements, a few statistics are given 

 showing the effect of the winter of 1903 and 

 1904 upon the birds. This summary 'is taken 

 from a report by Edward Howe Forbush, based 

 upon observations of seventy-five correspondents 

 in Massachusetts, and fifteen from neighboring 

 states. While this winter was an unusually severe 

 one, yet these reports suggest the dangers to 

 which birds are exposed during average winters, 

 as well as the extreme perils of an occasional 

 severe one. 



During the first half of the winter birds were 

 present in about their usual numbers, but as the 

 severity of the weather increased the number of 

 birds began to decrease, till about the end of the 

 winter a very noticeable mortality was universally 

 reported, and many birds were found dying of 

 cold and hunger ; and it was the opinion of those 

 best fitted to judge that most of the birds which 

 usually wintered there were either starved or 

 frozen. 



Among the greatest sufferers were the bob- 

 white, partridge, meadowlark, and flicker. In 



