Strictly speaking, this is for the birds. It is not for those among us who are forever searching out a new (and easier) diet! Neither is it for all the birds – it’s just for the winter midgets, who bless us with their daily calls, if we so much as leave them a crumb in the snow.

If you have tried all the tricks to entice them – cages of suet, peanut butter, ears of corn, bright berries, sunflower seeds, sand – probably you have observed, with disappointment, that the hairy woodpeckers crowd out the little downier, and the blue jays seem to take care of driving away most of the others.

Despite all we know of the survival of the fittest, there surely must be a right place in the winter scene for the little birds, without having to wait their turn, and eat the leavings.

No doubt the bright eyes of the tufted titmice, the jerky flight of the downy woodpeckers, the lowly ways of the snowbirds, the upside-down eating habits of the nuthatches, the cheery chatter of the chickadees, who scold you while you are refilling the feeding station, plus the cuteness and beauty of them all, have endeared the wee birds to you far beyond any affinity you may have for the doves, the owls, the rusty blackbirds, the cardinals, the quail and pheasant, and certainly the jays.

Have you ever come home from work dog-tired on a cool evening and smelled fried potatoes and onions? In my book, they belong alongside freshly baked bread as a “welcome-homer.”

If you, too, are a confirmed onion eater, no matter what anyone says then you might like to know what varieties are best suited to the many. different uses of onion.

There are hundreds of varieties of onions, but we seldom use more than four or five.

Here are some facts that will help you “know your onions.”

“Bunch” onions are those which are used green. They may be used in salads and relishes.

There are many varieties of the “dry” onion type. Any of these can also be used green. Some are better winter keepers than others.

Some are excellent keepers and good for general use.

A small, mild variety is good for creaming and for glace onions. They are best when used before fully mature.

Spanish onions are a good all-around variety but cannot be kept too long. They are good fried or creamed.

Of course, if you are a real, honest-to-goodness onion eater, you’ll want to grow a few red ones. Now, there’s a real onion!