Evening star., 1936-02-05
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

with them, and they would come at my
whistle and enter my house, and feed
from my hands. Some of the little
children on the block, and my mother,
also, got great thrill from thus feeding
them, but have discontinued the prac-
tice, being tired of digging up millions
OF little oaks from my lawn and flower
beds. Also the rascals have damaged
or destroyed plant and flower pots and
been otherwise too extensively familiar
Further, they extended their confidence
in human kind too widely, and some of
the neighborhood boys would entice
them to come close, then strike at them
with clubs-not very sporting thing
to do. Several we're thus killed or in
jured. Sometimes I think would-be
parents of boys should be required to
take out license and post bond!
Nov we come to birds. I have do
mated at times meat scraps, bits of Suet,
bread crusts etc., and especially in the
Spring, very hard pieces of bread, be-
cause Of the fun of watching the smart
grackles dunk these in the water pan
to soften them into edible condition.
But until this season I have not gone
at 1t Systematically. Now, however,
have a close wire box of suet hung to
a trellis and a magazine feeder, cat
proof and squirrel-proof, for the seed
eaters"
At this point our correspondent gives
detailed instructions for making a
feeder from wooden tray, tin coffee
can, a rug pole and cone made from a
circular piece of tin, to keep the squirrels
down.
He continues: 81 use the little chick
scratch feed, adding sunflower, hemp
millet and rape. My last supply was Is
pounds scratch, pounds sunf1ower, Q
pounds hemp. 2 pounds millet and 2
pounds rape.
"A pound lasts two days-and that sur
prises me, considering the multitudes
that come. My customers like the mix
ture and 'cuss me out vigorously if I
delay refilling the can.
Il leave the device out in rain, unless
1t is freezing, but put it under cover
when 1t SHOWS. When first put it out
the cagey little English sparrows were
suspicious and would have none of it.
But when they saw the juncos and
cardinals at it they came, too, and are
now most numerous. Even the starlings
have fooled around it some, but seeds
don't appeal to them. So far have seen
no jays and, praise be, no pigeons.
There are none of these latter here
abouts, though later on we shall have the
wild doves. Also quail. 1 counted a
covey of nine across the alley, beneath
neighbor's hedge, not so long ago.
Very truly yours, G. W. E."
Yes, the quail will be coming pretty
ing the birds must be on the watch for
them.
This is where Canadian peas comes in.
A supply of these, commonly rejected
by smaller birds, is just the thing for
the quail, grouse, parrridges, and so on,
whatever one calls them.
They love to browse in cleared spots
beneath hedges and at the base of shrubs
and evergreens, so these points would
be good for a scattering of the round,
hard peas.
Our experience has been that few wild
birds eat the rape seed, as found in al
most all the mixtures. 1t had better be
left out
The birds in our garden eat approx
imately five pounds of seed a day, dis
tributed in three feeders. They prefer
mixtures costing cents a pound-and
up-to chicken mixtures at 3 and
cents pound. When we fill the feeders
with the latter there is little bird who
always sits on the fence and cries.
Cheap, cheap, cheap" just so.