MY BIRD BOARD 
87 
of the bird world became a nuisance. My bird board had cost 
me some little trouble in making and setting up, and now I 
almost repented I had made it, for I promised myself no end 
of pleasure and amusement in seeing my little feathered friends 
enjoy themselves in a friendly way together. Sometimes instead 
of crumbs I put a chunk of bread that it might last out a little 
longer, but the sparrows in the end nearly always rolled it over 
the side of the board and my dog would find it. It is astonishing 
how heavy a weight a sparrow can carry ; I have frequently seen 
one fly away with a piece of bread the size of his own body. 
One day it came into my head to set a draining pipe on end 
on the board and drop the crumbs and other food down into 
it. The tits, of whom I have quite a little colony, soon found 
the trick, and are popping in and out of the draining pipe all 
day long, and apparently delighted with the arrangement. The 
hedge sparrows, too, have learned to venture fearlessly down the 
pipe. As for the house sparrows, they come and go, perch 
on the rim of the pipe, crane their necks down as far as they can 
reach, but not one, as far as I have yet observed, has ventured 
down to the bottom. They doubtless think it is a trap set to 
catch them, and being wary birds do not mean to be caught 
napping. In short, they are tired of looking at food which they 
think is dangerous to come at, and have at last left the coast 
pretty clear for their neighbours. The robin does not venture 
down the pipe — he is a solitary feeder, always preferring his own 
company to that of his neighbour ; he gets a few crumbs close to 
the window ; the earliest bird to come and the last to go, he 
manages to take his meals in privacy and quietude. The tits, 
on the contrary, are a sociable yet self-reliant little folk, well able 
to hold their own in any company. I have often been amused 
to see one of them stand up to a sparrow and refuse to yield the 
least ground in getting a fair share of the food. 
The tits are amazing eaters ; I put a bit of suet or fat meat 
and suspend it by a string from a plum tree close to the 
feeding board. I have often seen one peck away at the bread 
till he was tired, then hop to the water can, have a good drink, 
and then commence operations on the suet ; sometimes when he 
was clinging with his claws to the food a puff of wind would 
send him spinning round like a teetotum, but he did not seem 
to mind it in the least or let go his hold till he was satisfied. 
One big, grandly marked tit, which I call the bachelor because 
he appears to have no mate, is the master bird of them all ; when 
he comes to feed all the rest make way for him, he is evidently a 
king amongst them. From their vivacity and nimble movements 
my tits appear to be in splendid health and condition. They are 
flitting to and fro close to my sitting-room window the whole day 
long, and I have been abundantly repaid for any little trouble 
taken over them by observing their amusing and attractive 
ways. They are the comedians and acrobats of the bird world ; 
full of joyous life and blessed with healthy appetites they are 
