THE-AUDUBON-BUELE TRIN 15 
Back Yard Aviary 
Our ornithological knowledge may be subject to correction, but 
the thrill we get from watching the birds that come to feed and drink 
and bathe and make love in our back yard is not open to argument. 
Our prize pair is the Cardinal and his wife. ‘Dicky is on the 
platform and Mrs. is on the ground!” is an almost daily exclamation. 
“The Nuthatch is going south head first’? means that our suet basket 
on the elm tree is being appreciated. Or it may be the Downy Wood- 
pecker or a Creeper enjoying the suet “pudding.” The Blue Jay is 
still in evidence. So is the Junco. And of course the Sparrows and 
the Starlings. 
The feeding platforms are hung by single wires about thirty 
inches long, running from an overhead horizontal down to the center 
of the platform, so that if a Gray Squirrel succeeds in “tight rope 
walking” and gets down to the feed, the platform will tilt with his 
weight. This has happened once or twice. The platforms are in the 
center of the yard and about six feet above the ground. No Gray 
Squirrel has attempted to jump up to the platform. The food we put 
out nightly on the platform is sunflower seed and unroasted peanuts; 
we also feed in daytime occasionally. 
In summer our bird bath is always busy. Robins, Sparrows, Blue 
Jays, Cardinals, Orioles, Warblers, Finches, Starlings are in evidence. 
The American Cuckoo, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and the Woodcock 
have been seen there. 
Flickers are abundant. A small flock of Bohemian Waxwings ap- 
peared for a short time one winter. A pair of Kingbirds stayed about 
two weeks last summer and the Screech Owl still comes occasionally. 
We saw him catch a Sparrow one winter evening. Thrushes, Brown 
Thrashers, Catbirds, Pewees, are here every summer, but all too seldom 
we see a Woodpecker. 
A Nighthawk sat lengthwise on a wire above our garage for per- 
haps half an hour. We turned the garden hose toward him but he paid 
no attention; he did not move until a parent bird, from a nearby wil- 
low, flew at him and “banked” suddenly to start him off. 
We have had the unusual privilege of seeing a Cardinal take a 
bath. Our bird bath is on the ground with the shrubbery nearby, and 
is in constant use in the summer time. In summer we watch the male 
Cardinal feeding the female; later, one comes to feed while the other 
stays (we assume) on the nest; still later they apparently carry a 
crop full of seeds to the young; then they brought the young birds to 
nearby trees and fed them; and finally the young fed themselves. The 
Blue Jay carries the seeds away from the platform to a large limb 
where he “operates” with his long sharp bill while holding the seed 
against the limb with one claw. 
The cats, as Mr. Kipling said, are another story. 
W. CONNELL (River Forest), Il. 
