Return of Winter Birds to the Same Locality
Return of Winter Birds to the Same Locality
For two winters I have been feeding birds about our canyon home. During the winter of 1912-13 I scattered the food on the hill-slope in front of our dining-room window, and was rewarded by the daily appearance of Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, the two Towhees, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Thrashers and Wren-tits.
The next winter, 1913-14, for photographic purposes I began putting the food on the railing of the narrow unroofed porch, which extends under the window. It took some time to induce all the different varieties to come to this new table, which was set for them immediately in front of a large plate-glass window and at a distance of only three feet. But one by one they overcame their shyness, and came even when several observers stood just inside the window.
On the morning of September 27, 1914, a Golden-crowned Sparrow made his first fall appearance on the feeding-ground, and a few minutes later he flew up on to the railing in search of food. At seven o'clock on the morning of October 4, 1914, I saw a Fox Sparrow on the feeding-ground. At nine o'clock he, too, was feeding on the railing. He may very likely have been there earlier, but I had not caught him at it.
It would seem to me quite unreasonable to suppose that these birds were not the same birds that had been trained to pose for photographs on my railing during the previous winter.
Mrs. Amelia S. Allen
Berkeley, California
