Welcome Fat Those who feed birds, a very desirable charity
during late frosts, are wont to wonder why a good many species, such as wrens, buntings, red- wings and tit-larks, some most vulnerable to the starvation of cold, will not be attracted to the feast. The experience of a dweller in Cumber- land (who saved hundreds of lives in the winter of '46) should be worth imitation, both for kindness' and interest's sake. Hound-meal or biscuit- meal is spread out, softened by veterinary cod-liver oil such as many people give to their hens. It was found that all kinds of birds from gulls to wrens appreciated this desirable fat which is the crying need. The same successful feeder is astonished at the number and variety of birds that fall to work on the half-rotten apples thrown out—and this, too, is my experience. Birds, and for that matter beasts, are almost as greedy for moisture as for food in hard weather, and doubtless the apples supply the deficiency. They give both meat and drink. As to the oil, a very small amount suffices. It is to be feared that short supplies of food in recent years have caused many people to give up the bird-feeding habit. May they resume it! As to forms of food, birds much prefer uncooked to cooked porridge, which is apt to be either too sticky or frozen too hard.
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