2 
NATURE NOTES. 
too, can by this means be easily made familiar with and able to 
distinguish the commoner birds. Most young children being 
fond of animals, the antics of the tits at their lump of fat, or the 
successive arrivals of sparrows, robins, chaffinches, &c., are 
sure to attract and interest them ; and, in some cases, the foun- 
dation may possibly thus be laid of a life-long interest and 
delight in Nature. 
Though each person probably has his or her own particular 
method of feeding the birds, it may not be out of place to 
describe the plan employed here, with little variation, for a great 
number of years. 
A strong rough table is made use of, consisting of two separate 
parts, viz., a board measuring about 24 by 16 in. forming the top 
of the table, and a single stout leg or post, pointed and shod 
with iron at the lower end, and having the top also encased in a 
sort of ferrule or cylinder of iron, to prevent splitting under the 
blows of the mallet. This leg is driven firmly into the ground 
just outside the window. On the under side of the board, in the 
middle, is a piece of wood some 2 or 2| inches thick, through 
which a hole is bored to receive the top of the leg. In order 
that the top of the table may fit firmly and steadily on to its 
support, three stout brackets are nailed to the upper end of the 
latter, just below the ferrule. There is a rim of zinc all round 
the table, of sufficient width to reach a quarter of an inch or 
more above ics level, so as to prevent crumbs, &c., from being 
blown away. There is also an arch of strong iron wire (a 
croquet hoop), from the middle of which hangs by a bit of string 
a lump of suet or hard fat for the tits. A half-picked bone 
occasionally substituted makes a welcome change. 
A small jar containing seed, such as canary, hemp, millet, 
rape, linseed, &c., also stands on the table. Oats and small 
maize, too, are often added. A scraper of thin wood or metal 
always ready to hand, for scraping off the snow from time to time, 
we find an absolute necessity. The whole structure is painted a 
warm olive green, to match as nearly as possible the surrounding 
evergreens. Besides the table, a box is often placed bottom 
upwards on the window sill, reaching just high enough to show 
above the woodwork of the lowest panes of glass. It is rimmed 
round with zinc in the same manner as the table, and has a small 
hole in the middle, into which a branch or twig is stuck for the 
birds to alight on, thus making themselves conspicuous objects 
to persons inside the room. One of the ends is sharpened to 
admit of a bit of fat being stuck on it. 
Sparrows, I need hardly say, are frequent visitors, and come 
in troops, clearing off a large proportion of the food : they often 
seem to gobble up the seed whole, instead of shelling it first, as 
the chaffinches and most other seed eaters do. 
A pair of marsh tits have for three winters been regular 
customers. From having them almost continually under obser- 
vation, and noticing all their little ways, I have little doubt it is 
