My neighbour on one side entices the local deer past my garden fence with commercial herbivore food. On the other side, new neighbours commandeer all the local birdlife every day with a Harrods-style bird table banquet. How do the rest of us get our bird life back politely?

All I get now are crows, magpies, seagulls and the local cock pheasant and his harem.

Lyndall Barbour, Warminster

By Hitchcock, King of the Birds! It seems that Warminster is the Garden of Eden before the Fall. I think that if you persevere putting out crumbs and fat, and perhaps nuts from the local garden centre, you will attract the better class of creature.

Can you please advise on a correct new year’s resolution?

Ann Macdonald, Perth

To survive. To see our friends. To laugh at the passing show. To read a new book and an old book once a week. Resolutions depend on a superstitition that whatever you do on that day will affect the rest of the year, thus it was a key time for divination, dipping into the Bible and reading aloud a passage of prediction. The Christian name of the first person you met on New Year’s Day would be that of your future partner. It was a day when washing was particularly unlucky, and when new clothes should be worn. You had money in your pocket, lest you be poor all year. All mumbo jumbo.

We have received a number of Christmas cards signed merely “Jack” or “Mary”. We have several Jacks and three Marys of our acquaintance. How do I make sure

I reciprocate their cards?

Ann Dillon, Chelmsford

It is feckless, careless, and mild bad manners not to attach one’s full name and address, even on correspondence as trivial as Christmas cards. It demonstrates self-absorption as pig-headed as those who do not announce their names when telephoning, on the assumption that we can tell by supersensory perception who is talking. Fudgecake to Jack and Mary.

What is the correct English etiket for a happy New Year’s Eve?

Jean de Malherbes, Paris

Go easy on the alcohol early in the evening. Avoid large crowds. Spend it with your nearest and dearest. Drink milk to line your stomach. Do not charge in and out like rucking scrummagers from Perpignan while singing Auld Lang Syne. Go to bed early. Look forward with hope, not backwards with anger. I have a dozen friends who would disagree with all of these rather pi prescriptions.

Months ago I gave an expensive wedding present to a young couple. I have received no thank-you letter. What can I do?

Penny Childe, Cardiff

Letter-writing is a dwindling literary form. We were chained to a desk until we had written our thank-you letters. The young today are more casual. You could ask the bride’s mother if they received your present, but you do not want to get the girl into hot water. To give is more blessed than to receive thank-you letters.

We have a perfectly functioning doorbell on our one front door. Some callers choose to ignore it and knock repeatedly instead. I think that knocking on doors is allowed only if the doorbell does not work. What are your views?

Cora Hackwith, Maidenhead

We may not be able to hear whether the bell is working when we press the button. With a rat-tat-tat we know that we have made our presence felt. So you see how it can happen. There are other, more significant, irritations in life.