Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-12-31
TO FEED THE BIRDS.
Ground Will Soon Be Covered with Snow
and Our Feathered Friends
Will Lack Food

10 not LIT rs forget that within very
short time now the ground viii be Gov
cred with snow. ana that or friends. the
wild birds, will be glad to have tangible
proof Of our friendship. Last winter
bird lovers il many parts Of the country
made a good beginning, and saved many
! thousands OF birds Had their work
| been initiated wherever the winter vas
/ severe many more lives wouG have been
saved, rs it was great numbers Of birds
! persisted from starvation or from cold,
! which they might have withstood had
/ they been able to obtain food. The state
/ 0rT.ithOlOgist Of Massachusetts estimates
| chat % per cent. of all the quail in the
/ state persisted from starvation last win
! Ter. ANA that even , per cent. survived
is due to the fact that they were fed by
the bird lovers. To hear of birds dying
If starvation is one thing; to SEE the
birds themselves is another. and / am
| sure that. il the public could see some
of the sights which were seen by certain
students in the woods and fields last
winter. there would he but small need
Of making this appeal Those who were
ont on snOwshoes every now and then
discovered the stiff little form of some
iunC0, Chickadce or tTce-SpaTrow. and
notice a dozen or twenty little hummocks
Of snow lying close together. Beneath
would be found as many quail which,
when MI hope for obtaining food was
gone, had died as they had lived gently
ana together fr some cases help had
been given, but it had come TOO late,
and the birds, exhausted by their last
brave efforts lay dead upon the food
which they were too weak to pick up.
Such incidents as these should make us
more anxious than ever that there shall
be as little suffering as possible during
the coming winter, and | am going to
make suggestions concerning the best
way to prevent n repetition of last win
ter's tragedies.
or course everyone, old and young,
rich and poor, can do some good by feed
ing the birds ut home. They can put out
rough wooden trays, and keep them well
supplied with seeds, cracked oats, wheat.
bread and table scraps; they can III
Jumps of suet to the shade trees. and
then can clear wide spaces on the lawns
and in the yards, and keep these spaces
covered with different kinds of bird food.
ms VIII he great help to many kinds
or birds, but there are many other kinds
winch VIII not come near the house, and
these. perhaps, are the ones which suf-
fer most In order to save these regular
relief parties should be organized. If
there is a bird club in the town, of course
the feeding of hungry birds should be Ii
rectly III the line of its work, and surely
there is no woma2's club which would
refuse to assist in such an undertaking.
The actual work in the woods and
helds is not for women, Of course. but
women can help in the organization of
the relief parties, and in the collection of
food and the money to buy food. There
| are hundreds of people III every town
who, while unable tor one reason or an
other, TO actually do the work of bird
feeding, would be glad to assist by do
mating food or money, And each town
I itself should be willing TO appropriate II
certain sum each year to be expended in
some way for the benefit of the birds.
Birds are of immense value to town,
/ rot only by reason Of the pleasure they
! give 10 the inhabitants. but because they
are perSiStently waging war upon the III
sects which destroy the crops, and which
/ tend to make human life unpleasant. b
/ sides, it is worth much to any town 20
! have for its inhabitants people who are
generous and thoughtful.
! Perhaps there IS no better medium
/ through which to distribute food to the
birds ihau through the students of col
/ legeS academies and high schools and the
! pupils Of the public schools. Bodies of
/ students or pupils should work under the
/ leadership of either an individual or a
! committee, who should divide UP into
sections all the territory to lee covered,
and assign to each section one or more
squads of from two TO six men. These
| men should set out provided with plenty
/ of bird food, which may easily be ear
! lied either in baskets or in bags which
| have straps TO 20 over the shoulders. and
! they should be armed with su0W sn0ypl<
aud with string for tying the suet to the
trunks and branches of trees The grain.
| seeds, etc, should he placed in the middle