28 THE AUDUBON? B UMTS h itis 

Winter Birds at the Shelf 
HEY have just as much personality as people have. A certain 
Blue Jay that comes to the shelf is as greedy as any human glutton. 
He takes chunks of bread in his mouth as long as he can get more 
in, and finally flles away with his mouth wide open, the last two or three 
pieces plainly visible. But for all his greediness he is a bold, gay fellow, 
and so handsome that it is hard not to like him. He is generally cheerful 
and he is devoted to his family. If he discovers a fresh lot of some 
favorite food on the shelf, before helping himself he shouts for the rest 
of them to come. “Jay! Jay! Hey-fellows! Come on—Eats!” And they 
all come, feeding together much more peaceably than some other fam- 
ilies who bear better names and have better manners. 
Juncos stay in flocks during the winter but they fight incessantly. 
As though a puff of wind had blown gray leaves, they come, thirty 
or forty of them, and at once a fight begins. Amusingly like two 
little cocks, they dash at each other, beaks pointing up as they chatter. 
After a short verbal warfare they come together, often flying several 
feet into the air. They like the millet seed, and stay all winter with us 
year after year. They do not go in holes in trees as do the woodpeckers, 
chickadees and nutchatches, and so suffer more in very cold weather. 
Often in the early morning their feet are so numbed and frozen that 
they cannot stand, but half lie on the ground, balancing with their 
wings. Even then they fight. 
The Cardinals are more phlegmatic and slow moving. They are 
not particularly quarrelsome during the winter, though toward spring, 
the males fight a good deal. There seems some sort of unwritten law 
among them that Lord Cardinal is always first. They come to the 
shelf together and Lady bird sits patiently on a near-by branch and 
watches him eat. He is most deliberate about it. When he is quite full 
he flies away and leaves her to eat alone. His manners do not improve 
toward spring as do some of the others. However, she does not seem to 
mind. 
Nuthatch is abominably rude to his mate all winter. He chases 
her away viciously if she comes near when he is feeding. Even with his 
mouth full of sunflower seeds he dashes at her and is not content till 
she goes away. But toward spring what a change! He comes 
hitching up the tree toward her saying softly, “‘tick-tick,” and offering 
her some choice bit of suet or nutmeat. It is a satisfaction to be able to 
record that she does not accept his advances graciously. She still 
remembers his treatment of colder days. 
Downy woodpecker is another rude gentleman during winter 
months. He shifts for himself and Jets his mate do likewise. He does 
