36 
TH ES PAL Us DrUr RB OuNge ae en ae let 
The Nuthatch family take first prize for funny antics. 
They'd make a fine movie comedy, dashing back and 
forth, creeping down and around and all the while utter- 
ing the most beseeching “‘Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma’’. The 
Hairy and Red-Headed Woodpeckers are bringing their 
young to the suet now, often feeding them very large 
chunks. One morning I saw two female Downies, an adult 
and a juvenile, going after each other on our oak trunk— 
not much noise, but the pantomine of head bobbing, feint- 
ing, and beak jabbing was terribly funny. The juvenile 
finally hitched down to the ground and flew away. The 
Redwings in the swamp are still nervous, but the speckly 
young are on the wing. 
Where acres and acres of our neighbors’ woods 
burned over in early April and all has been ugly black, 
the luxuriant new greenery is waist high at last. A single 
dead sassafras sapling is now surrounded by five or six 
leafy shoots. The oaks, hawthorns and aspens still appear 
dead, and I’m afraid the old peat bed where the Trailing 
Arbutus grows is permanently damaged. Grackles fly up 
from the ground in large numbers when I walk through 
the woods. Flocked already?’ 
On the last day of June in 1959, a warm and partly 
cloudy day, we kept a census of birds visiting the suet, 
chicken scratch and sunflower seeds on our feeders. We 
watched from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and logged in the 
following guests: 
House Sparrow, 463; White-breasted Nuthatch, 302; 
Titmouse, 190; Blue Jay, 88; Cardinai, 55; Chickadee, 
32; Towhee, 25; Downy Woodpecker, 14; Hairy Wood- 
pecker, 8; Catbitd, 7; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 7; Brown 
Thrasher, 4; Cowbird, 3; House Wren, 2; Mourning 
Dove, 2. 
If we were to have the patience to make such a count 
of Dunes birds who will come to feeders again, thirteen 
years later, results would be much the same. In addition, 
Goldfinch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-headed Wood- 
pecker, Grackle and Redwing are now familiar guests. 
We've cut down on the chicken scratch which reduces 
sparrow visits, but eliminates the Brown Thrasher family 
and the Mourning Doves as well as the rabbits. Because 
we now keep fresh suet up all year, our Woodpecker 
population has increased considerably and is a constant 
joy. 
