KNOWING THE 
that are closed in the leafy season. 
Climbing steep hills is a keen delight, 
when the cold conduces to activity, and 
one is 
able to maintain a glow of 
warmth without being overheated. 
One can examine glittering cascades of 
ice, see the forms of the trees, and view 
miles and miles of country. All that 
is needed is an incentive to get us out, 
and the birds supply such an incentive 
in ample measure. 
Before going far afield we shall do 
well to pay attention to the birds that 
come to our very doors, seeking food in 
the time of scarcity. “The good custom 
of putting out food for the birds has 
now become very general. ‘The insec- 
tivorous kinds enjoy a piece of suet, fas- 
tened in a tree. It is well to place it 
by a window where it can be watched 
readily. 
In a mild winter, when food is easy 
to get, the birds may not use it very 
much, but let there come a heavy fall 
of snow followed by bitter cold, and 
they will be glad to accept our hospital- 
ity. In some severe winters I have had 
birds in numbers at my lunch counter 
almost constantly every day. Perhaps 
WINTER BIRDS 625 
most numerous will be the little black- 
capped chickadee, with his breezy man- 
ner and cheering songs. 
Usually a very regular customer is 
the little black-and-white-spotted downy 
woodpecker. “The hairy woodpecker, 
which looks just like his downy cousin, 
but is quite a bit larger, sometimes 
comes, but it is a shyer bird and gen- 
erally less plenty. Another familiar 
friend is the white-breasted nuthatch, 
an exceedingly vivacious fellow, blue- 
gray above, with black or blackish 
crown, and white beneath, a regular 
acrobat who climbs like a woodpecker 
and is as apt to run headlong down a 
tree as up it. The saucy blue jay may 
also pay his respects. 
The seed-eating birds do not care for 
the suet, so for them there should be a 
supply of seed or small or crushed grain 
placed out near house or barn in some 
warm, sheltered spot, with a cover 
above it to keep it from being buried 
under the snow. Unless the hordes of 
English sparrows can be kept away, 
they will monopolize the supply and 
drive off the desired visitors. “The shot- 
gun is the surest remedy, and it may be 
THE 
DOWNY WOODPECKER WITH A PIECE OF SUET ON THE END OF ITS BILL. 
