The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-02-10

company. The feed should be placed
in fiat tray, edged with rim to
prevent them from scratching the
seed to the ground. In finding the
proper place to put these trays
watch your trees for a few days.
Daily Feeding Rounds
Birds make daily feeding rounds
and have naked all the good feeding
trees. When you find the trees they
visit every day, that is the proper
place. The first bird that finds it
raises racket which is understood
by all the feathered hosts and he
will soon be joined by others.
If feed is kept in the tray the
company will increase daily, both in
numbers and kind. If you are trying
to bring the bird to your window,
put up three or four trays on trees,
using your window as the center.
Then keep moving them closer to
your window until they discover the
window tray. After this you discard
all the rest. These birds are all
very fond of bread and cake crumbs.
The second group of birds prefer
insects and insect eggs. These
birds are frequently more unique
than the seed eaters. These birds
are very partial to suet, bacon and
ham drippings, rancid butter, meat
remnants, pancakes,-in fact, any,
thing that is fried in fat
Cracklings Good
For more extensive work of this
type, obtain meat scraps, raw or
cooked, or cracklings from the
butcher. Many kitchens do not use
all of the broth left over from their
liver pudding.
If mush containing middlings or
other feed were cooked from this it
would serve as cheap and delect-
able feast for many of these birds.
This food is scattered on the same
general plan as the feeding trays
until your birds have been lured to
your window. Feeding trays, how
ever, are not practical because larger
birds and squirrels will carry the
food away.
The approved way to get around
this is to use a rectangular piece of
wire screening. This is tackled by
the three sides to the trunk or limb
of a tree. The feed is then stuck
in under the open side. The insect
eating birds have then pointed bills
and can easily obtain this feed.
Some Precautions
In closing this very brief discus
sion, ! shall submit few precau-
tions. Birds are not interested in
what we call beautiful. The more
your food tray looks like a cozy
corner in nature, the better they like
it. A few branches, preferably
evergreens, scattered around the
edge of the tray suit them very we'll.
The sheltered side of the house is
far more attractive. Do not build
your trays tight enough to cause
water to stand in them. If possible
keep the snow from covering the
feed. If you build a roof over it, be
sure you do not shut off the light.
Birds are suspicious of enclosures
that look like cages. The best time
to begin is when you become inter-
ested. Success comes sooner in the
fall because the birds have not yet
established their feeding routes.
Four Considerations
Besides the problem of winter
feeding there remain four considera-
tions of equal Importance for those
who wish to have their gardens
graced by these minstrels of the out
doors.
They are the problems of out
whiting the ordinary sparrows, the
building and placing of bird houses,
the providing of nesting materials,
and the planting of natural food
bearing trees and shrubs.
If the lovely little tricks and the