2 Bird -Lore 



with oaks of various sorts, red maples, hickories, and quantities of gray birch, 

 while on the southerly slope are hundreds of cedars. Scattered among these 

 trees, and along their edges as border plantations, are clumps of high-bush 

 blueberries, wild azalea, shad bush, witch hazel, Florida dogwood, privet, 

 buckthorn, and the Hke, and perhaps, commonest of all,, quantities of bar- 

 berries. Beneath these, in turn, is a carpet consisting of two kinds of blue- 

 berries, huckleberries, bayberry, sweet fern, wild rose, etc., interspersed with 

 great quantities of ferns of various kinds, partridge berry, and numbers of 

 berry-bearing herbaceous perennials. 



Since my purchase of the place, I have allowed the meadow practically 

 to take care of itself, and, in the case of the East Wood, am simply waiting for 

 the native underbrush to grow again; but, with the West Wood, a great deal 

 of care has been taken in thinning trees, and affording a better light for the 

 development of the undergrowth beneath them. Though the progress is 

 necessarily slow, there has been a lot of pruning for thickening purposes; but 

 in certain places there is not, as yet, so much of the taller undergrowth as 

 I should like. 



We have, however, in addition to those already growing there naturally, 

 planted numbers of cornels and viburnums of various kinds, including the high- 

 bush cranberry and mountain ash, for their berries, as well as native rhodo- 

 dendrons for winter protection. 



In the winter of 1908-1909, my friend, Ernest Harold Baynes, happened, 

 while visiting us, to call my attention to the little book "How to Attract and 

 Protect the Wild Birds," by Martin Hiesemann, translated by Emma S. 

 Buchheim. 



While numerous notices and a few brief reviews of this work have appeared, 

 it does not seem to me that sufficient attention has been paid to it, and I 

 cannot too strongly recommend its purchase and perusal by every lover of 

 birds who has not yet chanced to see it*. 



For the benefit of those, however, who have not yet seen the book, it may 

 be briefly stated that it is an account of the system employed by Baron von 

 Berlepsch on his family estate at Seebach, "The District of Lagensalza, in 

 Thuringea," for the preservation and increase of useful birds. 



This system, which the Baron has carried on for a number of years with 

 phenomenal success, includes: 



1. Creating of opportunities for breeding. 



a. For birds that build in holes (by putting up bird-boxes). 



b. For birds that build in the open (by the planting, cultivating and 

 pruning of underbrush for the birds' protection; food-supply, and convenience 

 in nesting). 



2. Winter feeding (the construction and distribution of various appliances 



♦For sale by the National Association of Audubon Societies, ig74 Broadway, New York City. Price, 

 40 cents. 



