Best feeder sites Place bird feeders where:
Best feeder sites
June 17, 2008 at 11:10PM
• You can see them readily from inside your house.
• You can fill them with relative ease.
• Birds can safely use them.
Placing feeders near bushes that offer cover for predators (such as cats) is not a good idea. To prevent birds from flying into your windows, feeders should be at least 30 feet from the windows or right up against them.
Book in brief Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, king of the Romans and ruler of much of Europe and the Middle East in the 13th century, wrote a book about birds that remains useful today. (Don't worry. This isn't a review of that book.)
Frederick, still regarded as the patron saint of falconry, wrote "On the Art of Hunting with Birds," which plays a prominent role in the life of Tim Gallagher, as he recounts it in his latest book, "Falcon Fever" (Houghton Mifflin, $25).
Gallagher's book covers several breeds of falcons and hawks. (Despite the name, falconers fly hawks as well as falcons.) He gives the names of the birds, their habits and a bit of the history of hunting with birds. He also defends the sport, describing the thrill of a small, fierce falcon going after a sage grouse seven times its size.
This is a warm and very personal book about one man's lifelong devotion to falconry.
JIM WILLIAMS
