Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/70

56  known as the 'Ramble' is a particularly good one for birds, and during the past winter, when it was not too cold, I have often gone from my study in the nearby Museum of Natural History to eat my luncheon with the birds in the Ramble. Many other bird-lovers have also visited the Park to study and feed the birds, and, as always happens when birds learn that they will not be harmed, they have become remarkably tame.

This is especially true of the Chickadees, who, under any circumstances, seem to have less fear of man than most birds. When I



A BIRD IN THE HAND

Photographed from nature, by F. M. Chapman.

entered the Ramble they soon responded to an imitation of their plaintive call of two high, clearly whistled notes. And in a short time we became such good friends that I had only to hold out my hand with a nut in it to have one of them at once perch on a finger, look at me for a moment with an inquiring expression in his bright little eyes, then take the nut and fly off to a neighboring limb, where, holding it beneath his toes, he would hammer away at it with his bill, Blue Jay fashion.

One day I induced one of them to pose before my camera, and, as a result, I now have the pleasure of presenting you with his portrait, as an actual proof that nuts are much more effective than salt, in catching birds. So, after this, we won′t go out with salt-cellars, but with a supply of food: nor should we forget to take a “pocketful of patience,” which. Mrs. Wright says, is the salt of the bird-catching legend. 