BY THE WAYSIDE 
51 
Feeding Birds in Winter 
Why would not this text taken from 
“The Proverbs of Solomon the Son of 
David, King of Israel,”—“She is not 
afraid of the snow for her household: for 
all her household are clothed with scar¬ 
let”—he a good one to keep constantly 
in our thoughts as winter approaches, 
and make a practical application of it 
without delay? My mother used to sing 
to us children when the first flakes ot 
snow began to fly in the air, that the 
“ old woman was up in the sky picking 
her geese, 7 ’ a simple little song, common¬ 
ly known in those days. This was the 
first stanza of it: 
‘ The north wind doth blow, 
And we shall have snow, 
And what will the robin do then? 
Poor thing ! poor thing ! 
’Twill tty in the barn, 
To keep itself warm, 
And hide its head under its wing! 
Poor thing ! poor thing! ’ ’ 
Mothers have such a wonderful oppor¬ 
tunity to influence their children, and 
the influence is radiated and absorbed 
almost unconsciously. Teachers have a 
like opportunity, possibly more directly. 
If all the mothers (though not by any 
means leaving out the fathers, for they 
do not all have a mania to shoot a wild 
creature the instant they set eyes upon it, 
or procure a hunter’s license as soon as 
the time limit has expired), if all the 
mothers and those who have young peo¬ 
ple under their care, would teach them 
to care for the birds and other wild creat¬ 
ures, how much suffering would be 
spared! Perhaps the easiest thing to do, 
and very often that which can be done 
without so much effort, or without going 
so far from home, is to feed the birds, 
to feed them and give them water; and 
to shelter them, too, in many cases. 
Barns and other buildings can be left 
open, or arranged in some way that will 
suggest itself to the owners, or a little 
bird-shed can be built for the purpose of 
feeding them. The magazine number of 
the “Outlook” for August, contains the 
very interesting article about “English 
Song Birds,” by Theodore Roosevelt. 
There is also a most valuable article, with 
beautiful and practical illustrations, 
on “The Conservation of the Birds,” by 
Omar H. Sample. This article tells and 
shows how to make several different food 
houses for birds, which any one with just 
simple tools can build. 
My manner of feeding the birds is a 
very easily-made contrivance, and has 
proved most successful and entertaining 
for a number of years. On our grounds 
north of one of our dining room win¬ 
dows, and in plain sight to us as we sit 
at our meals daily, stands a large shag- 
bark hickory tree, about fifteen feet from 
the house. Upon this tree about eight 
feet from the ground, we have nailed a 
stout pine arm, and upon this arm, which 
has a limb, as it happens, back of it 
where the birds like to tarry, has been 
nailed a broad pine board upon which is 
placed a box which I call my suet-box 
for feeding birds. This box is about 
10x6, and four inches deep, and it is 
also nailed fast to the arm through the 
board. The lid is sawed out, leaving 
only a rim all around its outer edge. It 
can be made instead, of narrow pieces of 
wood. The lid is fastened to the box 
with strips of leather made into hinges, 
and the front has a leather strip having 
a slip cut in it which is drawn over a 
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