Part 1

HOW TO HAVE BIRD NEIGHBORS

BY S. LOUISE PATTESON AUTHOR OF “PUSSY MEOW, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CAT” AND “KITTY-KAT KIMMIE, A CAT’S TALE”

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR COVER BY HELEN BABBITT AND ETHEL BLOSSOM

D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY S. LOUISE PATTESON 118

DEDICATED TO BOYS AND GIRLS

FOREWORD

This narrative of neighborship with birds is suggestive rather than exhaustive. It aims not so much to inform the reader, as to instill in him the desire to learn from the outdoors itself, to know at first hand about the charms and the benefactions of birdlife. The observing reader will supply what has been left unsaid, and so experience the zest of initiative, the joy of discovery, in our mysterious and manifold bird-world.

S. L. P.

Waldheim, East Cleveland, Ohio, October, 1917.

CONTENTS

PAGE List of Illustrations vii I. My First Bird Neighbors 1 II. New Adventures in Birdland 11 III. Real Troubles in Birdland 21 IV. The Bluebirds’ Bungalow 28 V. The Wrens’ Apartment House 36 VI. The Boy 44 VII. The Chimney Swifts 62 VIII. Birds Not of a Feather 68 IX. The Martins’ Aircastle 78 X. More about the Boy 92 XI. The Cardinals 102 XII. My Bird Family 110 Glossary 123 Directions for Making Bird Houses 127 Index 130

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Strings and cotton and chicken feathers for the birds’ nestings Frontis PAGE Suet and doughnuts for downy, corn for the cardinal, cereal for the song sparrow v Goldfinch feeding babies vi “Oh, where is Mother?” viii The basin on the porch railing 1 They were making that can into a bird home 4 The baby robins 9 One winter day a pigeon came in at an open window 10 Vacant lots attract birds 11 The winter birds like peanuts and suet 13 When I did not have peanuts I gave the nuthatch doughnuts 14 The dear happy chickadee 17 The selfish nuthatch 20 Cats belong on their own premises 21 The basin was Bunny’s looking glass 22 The genial gray squirrel 27 The return of the bluebird 28 Sometimes she was just gliding through the entrance as he alighted on the housetop with a choice morsel for her 31 Bluebird babies to feed and care for 33 The bluebirds moved into the pretty double house 34 Rented for the summer 36 The small wren house in the pear tree 39 A baby wren on the window sill 43 Bluebirds are great helpers in a garden 44 Baby flicker peeps at the outside world 49 Mrs. Wood Thrush on her nest 51 A killdeer’s nest in a potato field 53 The bluebirds in their primitive home 55 Every little while a goldfinch came to the “store” tree and got some string 57 The chimney swifts’ temporary home 60 The flicker is also called golden-winged woodpecker 61 Chimney swifts’ nest 62 One of these Swift babies was put to rest in the nest, but he did not stay there long 63 A robin’s nest 68 Near the nest tree was a big stone which the redheaded woodpecker used as a perch 74 Each little goldfinch called as loud as he could 76 A young goldfinch alighted on the clothes line 77 This martin scout brought a lady with him 78 The martins’ aircastle 81 The home-coming of the martins 87 A great gathering in mid-air 91 A bath for birds and a lunch beside it 92 The crested flycatcher and a Berlepsch house 95 Kitty watching for mice 98 The new food house was visited by bluejays 100 A feedery much liked by downy 101 A tree trimmed with peanuts for the birds 102 The cardinal’s favorite feedery 105 Always Mr. Cardinal came first and ate a while; then she would follow 109 Song sparrow 110 Mother Oriole in the bath 113 So made that they can be easily opened after use and cleaned 116 Food house, made out of waste materials 118 Maybe they will fly to us, instead of away from us 121 The birdies’ policeman 122 The finished martin house 128 Raising the martin house 128

HOW TO HAVE BIRD NEIGHBORS

HOW TO HAVE BIRD NEIGHBORS

I MY FIRST BIRD NEIGHBORS

The birds that live in my yard are the loveliest of all my neighbors. During the springtime and summer they awaken me every morning with their sweet songs. Then all the day long their pretty ways make me wish I had nothing to do but to watch them.

Now I can imagine someone saying, “If I had a yard, I, too, would try to have bird neighbors.” Listen! Before I had a yard I had bird neighbors on my porch.

How did I get them?

In summer, a basin of water on the porch railing, and in winter, the basin filled with table scraps—this is what did it. On the porch of that apartment house I learned how to neighbor with birds.

A kind lady in the next house tied suet and strings of peanuts to one of her trees. During winter and spring the woodpeckers enjoyed the treat, while we enjoyed the woodpeckers! Pigeons and bluejays came too, and, yes, English sparrows, those birds that are nowhere welcome. But they didn’t have it all their own way there, as they do where nothing is done to attract other birds.

One winter day a beautiful blue and white pigeon with rose-colored neck came in at an open window. The streets were covered with snow. It was hard for birds to find anything to eat. This pigeon ate some rolled oats that I scattered before it, drank some water, and walked into a corner. After a nap it ate some more; then took another nap. When it awoke again I set it in a waste-paper basket by the open window, so it could go away when it pleased. It took several more helpings of oats. Toward evening it flew away.

Among the pigeons that used to come often to my porch was my little guest of a day. As the pigeons ate they always cooed. Perhaps they were remarking how good it tasted.

In early spring the robins came. They liked little scraps of meat. Chopped raw beef was to them the greatest treat. At the basin they not only drank, but spread their wings over it and splashed the water all around, trying to bathe in that shallow dish. It was only a big flower-pot saucer. While the weather was still cold, they began to sing mornings before daylight. It was like listening to Christmas carols to hear them.

On mild and thawing days they could be seen hopping over my neighbor’s lawn. Most cunningly they would turn their heads to one side, then to the other. It is said that they do this so they can hear the worms and insects move about in the ground. I believe it; for often I have seen a robin, after listening intently at some spot, stop to scratch and dig, then pull out a worm.

The robins often pulled and jerked at the morning-glory vines on our porch. Whenever they got one loose they would gather it up in loops with the bill and carry it away. They also tore strings off our mop and flew away with them.

On a pillar of our porch there hung a can in which we sometimes put flowers. One rainy April day a little wren alighted on the edge of that can and looked in. The can was empty at the time, so the bird went inside, but came out again quickly and flew away.