20 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



both insect- and seed-eaters. For the former we 

 should have a never-failing supply of suet. This 

 may be tied to the upright post of the garden stand 

 between the troughs, and attached to the frame at 

 the side of the window tray. The Chickadee, Nut- 

 hatches, Downy ajid Hairy Woodpeckers and Brown 

 Creeper are especially fond of this food and it will 

 also be taken by the Jays and Starlings. 



For the seed-eating Sparrows and Grosbeaks we 

 should offer hemp, canary and sun-flower seed, Jap- 

 anese millet, cracked corn and mixed chick-feed; 

 crumbs and broken dog-biscuit. Unroasted peanuts 

 and other nuts are eagerly eaten by birds of both 

 classes. 



Wherever we spread a table for the birds, the 

 English Sparrows will probably be the first to come 

 and the last to go. Even the pugnacious, noisy little 

 Sparrows are better than no birds at all, but we 

 surely do not want them when they crowd our native 

 birds from the places we wish them to fill. 



Since Sparrows are mainly ground feeders, it has 

 been suggested that if we sprinkle a supply of grain 

 on the ground near the feeding stand, they will visit 

 it and leave the Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Downy 

 to enjoy their meals unmolested. 



