SANCTUARY 275 



alder, bayberry, prickly gooseberry, swamp black 

 currants, wild rose, blackberry, thimbleberry, 

 snowberry, the viburnums and the sumachs. 

 Birds will eat poison sumach readily, in spite of 

 its poisonous properties, but it is just as well not 

 to plant any, for it spreads too fast already. 

 Among the vines, wild grapes, Virginia creeper 

 and false bittersweet will be among the best. Of 

 course you ought to plant the larger trees, though 

 it will be a long time before they are big enough to 

 be of use, and especially, gray birch, European ash 

 and spruce. Among herbaceous plants, hemp, 

 millet, and sunflowers are good, they keep their 

 seed through the winter, quite often, and seed 

 themselves year after year. 



''Now, you may think this is rather a large 

 order, Shan, though it is only a small fraction of 

 the valuable list prepared by Kennard, an author- 

 ity on this subject. Suppose you start with twelve 

 plants, three which will give food to the birds in 

 spring, three in summer, three in fall, three in 

 winter. I want you to learn these and remember 

 them. Repeat them after me : 



''For spring food; Washington thorn, dwarf 

 sumach, and false bittersweet.'^ 



Shan repeated the trio. 



