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and run together. The bird’s length of six or seven inches is 
made up largely of tail, and when flying, the song sparrow spreads 
the feathers of this organ with almost every wing stroke. The 
principal sound emitted by these birds in the coldest periods of 
winter is an occasional “tsip” or “chip,” but their late winter and 
spring melody is so cheery and buoyant that this sparrow goes 
by the local name of “Summer sweet” in Nova Scotia. 
The goldfinches would appreciate having you leave several 
stalks of sunflowers standing. 
These birds visit sunflower 
heads in late summer and dur¬ 
ing the fall and may be retained 
as winter visitors if a food sup¬ 
ply is left them. The bright 
coat of yellow and black and 
his peculiar dipping flight dis¬ 
tinguish the goldfinch from 
other birds, and although his 
plumage loses much of its 
brightness in the winter, still 
you can recognize him by his 
flight and manners. 
In fields where corn is 
stacked one may almost always 
detect signs of bird life. Jun- 
cos and tree sparrows delight 
to feed about on weed seeds 
and leave a lacework of tracks 
where they have gone hither 
and thither on the surface of 
the snow. Red cedars offer excellent shelter and chickadees, 
pine siskins, blue jays and others are not slow to avail themselves 
of it when night approaches. Thick masses of honeysuckle vines 
that sometimes cling to porches are often sought as roosting 
places by birds; and dense hedges furnish good windbreaks. A 
tepee of cedar poles set closely together and draped with he old 
vines of last summer's morning-glories makes an acceptable ref¬ 
uge in the absence of something better and I have even known 
the resourceful house sparrow to burrow into the sides of hay¬ 
stacks and there spend the night unmindful of the cold blasts 
without. 
Any of the above-named features could easily be created with¬ 
out much expense or labor on almost every country place, but 
for the benefit of those who care to go to further trouble on 
behalf of the birds a list of shrubs, trees, etc., whose fruit or 
shelter is attractive to birds, is inserted at the end of this article. 
Undoubtedly the greatest amount of joy for the least labor is 
to be obtained by the establishment of a food counter near enough 
to the house so that the birds may be observed from the windows. 
November is not too early to make preparations, although per¬ 
haps not a great many birds will come to the spread until the 
first snowstorm conceals their natural food in the woodlands. 
There are several methods of 
procedure. Some prefer to place 
a shelf on a level with the win¬ 
dow ledge in order that the food 
supply may be readily put into 
place by simply opening the win¬ 
dow, but certain it is that there 
are birds which will come to a 
food shelf if it is a short distance 
from the house and yet are not 
bold enough to approach the 
window ledge. A shallow tray 
supported by braces to a tree 
trunk a few yards from the win¬ 
dow is very satisfactory and 
should if possible be placed on 
the south side of the house to 
afford the birds the benefits of 
the sun’s rays while the meal is 
in progress. Some ground 
gleaners like juncos and white- 
throated sparrows seem better 
satisfied to feed on crumbs or seeds that are thrown out broad¬ 
cast, but it is always advisable to clear a space for this purpose, 
lest much of the food sink into the snow and be lost. 
The downy and hairy woodpeckers and the brown creeper are 
in their elements only when clinging to the side of a limb or the 
trunk of a tree, and prefer not to stand on a horizontal flat sur¬ 
face, such as a shelf. For their convenience, therefore, a piece 
of suet or perhaps a dog biscuit should be bound to the tree trunk, 
and if the several kinds of birds that patronize this particular 
food supply disagree, a number of such stations should be estab¬ 
lished, and all patrons can then gorge themselves at their ease. 
Some difficulty is likely to be experienced with English or 
house sparrows, for if companies of these piratical vagabonds 
form the habit of visiting the lunch counter it will be speedily 
The white breasted nuthatch, one of our common winter birds, may 
literally feed from your hand 
The nuthatch is somewhat of an acrobat, and comes to the food headfirst down the trunk. The tufted titmouse, however, is more dignified 
and retiring, and comes only when the downy woodpecker, shown in the last picture, is absent from the “lunch counter” 
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