How To Have Bird Neighbors — Story, Setting & Ideas

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In Category - Birds

Authors: Patteson, S. Louise (Susanna Louise), 1853-1922 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2021 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Birds Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 28,383

Reading time 124 min

Text sections 5

This digital edition of How To Have Bird Neighbors — Story, Setting & Ideas is described by source-level measurements including 28,383 words, 2 hr 4 min estimated reading time, and 5 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 15.4 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Birds,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #65548

Patteson's 1917 guide blends personal observation with practical advice for attracting birds, using a notebook method to identify species and detailing specific feeding and nesting habits.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg65548

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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

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.

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.

Continue Reading →

Patteson opens by describing her method of identifying birds through a notebook, recording details like “Rather plump, head pointed, bill long. Head and back olive. Front yellow.” This approach, she explains, helped her distinguish the female Baltimore oriole from her mate, whose song she transcribes as “Hee \ho/ hee, hee \ho ho/ hee.” The book is structured around such firsthand observations, not as a field guide but as a narrative of learning to coexist with birds.

Notebook Observations and Identification

Patteson’s notebook entries serve as the book’s backbone. She records physical traits, behaviors, and food preferences, such as orioles preferring “graham or entire wheat bread to white bread.” This method allows her to identify species without relying solely on illustrations. For instance, she describes a bird with “head pointed, bill long” and later confirms it as a female oriole when a “beautiful black and orange bird” appears alongside it. The notebook also captures vocalizations: the brown thrasher’s song is rendered as “Beverly Beverly,” “Peter Peter,” and “Tell it to me! Tell it to me!” Patteson emphasizes that readers can adopt similar practices, noting that “the observing reader will supply what has been left unsaid.”

Feeding and Nesting Habits

The book details specific feeding strategies for different birds. Downy woodpeckers receive suet and doughnuts, cardinals get corn, and song sparrows prefer cereal. Patteson observes that redheaded woodpecker babies “could help themselves pretty well to suet; but the peanuts were a puzzle to them” and would “peck into the shell and try to eat that.” Nesting behaviors are also closely watched: orioles make “a baglike nest on the tip end of a branch” that swings “like a hammock,” while brown thrashers hide their nests “in a dense thicket” so well that Patteson finds them only after they are empty. She notes that goldfinches are “very late with their housekeeping,” gathering strings and cotton in July.

Human Intervention and Bird Safety

Patteson advocates for practical measures to protect birds. She mentions that Mrs. Cotton “was keeping her cat housed” and “threw bread out on her lawn every day” to attract birds. The author herself provides strings, cotton, and chicken feathers for nesting materials. She also describes a “food station” where she offers suet and peanuts. The book includes a chapter titled “Real Troubles in Birdland,” which likely addresses threats like cats and other predators. Patteson’s tone is pragmatic: she notes that “cats belong on their own premises” and encourages readers to create safe environments. The foreword states the book aims “to instill in him the desire to learn from the outdoors itself,” positioning human action as key to fostering bird neighborhoods.

Patteson’s narrative is less a manual than a record of discovery, inviting readers to replicate her attentive, notebook-driven approach. The book’s value lies in its specific, verifiable details—from the oriole’s song to the woodpecker’s feeding puzzles—rather than general advice. Readers interested in bird behavior will find a model for patient observation, while those seeking practical tips can extract feeding and housing suggestions directly from Patteson’s experiences.

This morning I thought of my grandmother’s kitchen windowsill, where a wren built its nest each April. Patteson’s notebook method feels like her quiet patience, naming each visitor without hurry. That same reverence surfaced in Birds of the National Parks in Hawaii — A Reader’s Guide, where place and creature seem to hold a shared secret, waiting for someone still enough to notice.