Page:Bird-lore Vol 07.djvu/265

 A BOB -WHITE LUNCH PARTY Photographed by John Tresilian Our Avian Creditors By ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES. Meriden, N. H. IT is not an act of charity, this feeding of the birds at a season when even their great courage and energy often go unrewarded. Call it an act of friendship, and I will not dispute it ; but, after all, it is a duty — the partial payment of a debt, for the hundred joys which birds have added to our lives. But, though they were not our creditors, the fact that we call ourselves ' bird -lovers ' should be sufficient to insure our feeding them in winter; for it is not conceivable that we would allow those we love to run the risk of starving to death, if by any reasonable effort we could prevent it. In spite of all we may do, many birds will die this coming winter; but