Attracting the Wild Birds 
PRACTICAL METHODS OF INDUCING A LIKING FOR YOUR GROUNDS AMONG THE BIRDS 
—FEEDING ( HOUSES AND NEST BOXES THAT HAVE PROVED THEIR WORTH IN ACTUAL USE 
by E. I. Farrington 
A LONG with the increasing in- 
■ terest which is being taken 
by suburban dwellers in the 
rational improvement of their 
.grounds, there often comes a 
keener awakening to the meaning 
of the wild life which exists even 
in quite thickly settled communi¬ 
ties. We are constantly learning 
more of the habits and life stories 
of the birds, smaller animals and 
insects, and the parts they play in 
the general scheme of things, but 
perhaps the most delightful fea¬ 
ture of this phase of country activ¬ 
ities is supplied by the actual pres¬ 
ence of the small creatures them¬ 
selves. especially the song birds. 
The feeding house is covered so as to protect its contents from 
storms, and is mounted on a post 
and yet are made easily accessible. 
Various small grains, with bits of 
suet and bread crumbs, are the deli¬ 
cacies which are used to tempt the 
birds, and hardly has the first snow 
whitened the bushes before the 
Chicadees and Juncos begin to ap¬ 
pear, with the Nuthatches, charm¬ 
ing, white-bellied little creatures, 
not far behind. Much of the food 
which tender-hearted people throw 
to the birds is wasted and much of 
the pleasure to be found in watch¬ 
ing them feast is lost because suit¬ 
able feeding arrangements are not 
provided. This simple bird table 
can hardly be improved upon and 
is almost certain to be made use of 
A dead tree is a favorite resort of wood¬ 
peckers, and so is a good place for a nest¬ 
ing box 
There are various 
ways of attracting 
birds to your place, 
such as erecting 
feeding boxes for 
winter use, planting 
such trees and 
shrubs as will pro¬ 
vide shelter from se¬ 
vere storms, placing 
artificial nesting 
sites for certain spe¬ 
cies, and so on. Any 
one of these meth¬ 
ods should be more 
or less successful, 
yet naturally the 
most gratifying re¬ 
sults are to be ob¬ 
tained from a com¬ 
bination of all, as 
has been done by 
Mr. Ivennard at 
at Newton Centre. 
Mr. Ivennard has 
placed a feeding 
house just outside 
his library window, 
surmounting a rus¬ 
tic cedar post im¬ 
bedded in three feet 
of concrete to make 
it firm. As the il¬ 
lustration shows, 
this feeding house 
is so covered that its 
contents are protect¬ 
ed from the storms 
if properly located. 
The birds are not 
slow to accept the 
hospitality if it is of¬ 
fered in the right 
way. Every means 
is used to coax the 
birds into the 
woods. The trees 
have been thinned to 
let in the light so that 
the underbrush will 
grow, and high bush 
blueberries, shad 
hushes, dogwoods, 
privets, barberries, 
bayberries and the 
sweet fern are found 
in profusion, with 
partridge berries 
and various 1 o w- 
growing vines mak¬ 
ing a soft carpet un¬ 
der foot. The taller 
underbrush has been 
encouraged, in par¬ 
ticular, in order to 
create the conditions 
most favorable t o 
bird life. 
Turning to the 
subject o f nesting 
boxes, one of the 
best types is that 
known as the Ber- 
lepsch box, from 
( Continued on 
page 492) 
The box should be in a perpendicular posi¬ 
tion, like the woodpeckers’ natural nesting 
site 
(461) 
