Bird Notes and News 



95 



examination. They were found to contain 

 remains of two small fish, 33 useful beetles, 

 and six earthworms, as against 51 harmful 

 beetles and insects and 31 wire-worms, show- 

 ing a balance distinctly in favour of the 

 agriculturist and practically innocuous to 

 fisheries. „ „ # 



The provision of water for birds in summer 



in being more and more regarded both in 



kindness to the birds themselves and also 



as a measure of insurance for fruit. Every 



observer knows that the neighbourhood of 



streams and pools is the place to look for 



many birds, and that a rill or fountain or 



pan of water is a sine qua non for a garden 



that aspires to bird residents and visitors. 



In the United States, where heat and 



drought are so much greater than in showery 



Britain, the bird-bath and fountain are 



more general than with us, and the April 



number of the American Museum Journal 



devotes an article to the best form and 



material for the purpose. 



"Bird -baths may be as simple or as 

 elaborate as one likes. A rough earthenware 

 saucer from six inches to twelve inches in 

 diameter and with half an inch of fresh water 

 in it, is a great deal better than nothing. 

 . . . But the supplying of water is so 

 very important, that most of us will wish to 

 do rather more than put out a saucer. 

 Even from a selfish standpoint it is well 

 to give birds all the water they want. If 

 we do, they will be much less likely to destroy 

 our small fruits which they sometimes eat 

 chiefty for the fluid contained." 

 * * * 



A little pond, two or three feet (or less 



if necessary) in diameter, with concrete 



at the bottom, is not difficult to fashion 



on the ground ; if open to assault from cats, 



it is better to have a bath of stone raised 



from the ground, such as is made at the 



Compton Art Potteries, or may be contrived 



by ingenuity at home. The concrete must 



be covered by gravel, sand, or pebbles, 



or a sod of grass, as a smooth surface is 



particularly objectionable to birds ; and the 



depth should not be more than five inches 



at most, two-and-a-half being as far as 



most birds will venture in. It is well to 



graduate the slope from half an inch at the 



rim to four or five at the centre. The 



writer of the article describes one made 



in a series of five steps, each half an inch 



lower than the last, and each seven inches 



wide, and he describes how the various 



bird-visitors respectively made use of the 



shallow or deeper water. Similarly, beside 



a little English streamlet it may be noticed 



that the sparrows stand at the very edge 



and splash the water over themselves, while 



the chaffinch walks boldly in to a least 



an inch of water. 



* * * 



In a large garden, there are all manner 

 of possibilities of providing miniature ponds 

 with water-plants and grasses planted around 

 them, for the birds' drink and bath, and 

 with little food-trays invitingly half-hidden 

 among the foliage. A tub for water-lilies, 

 for instance, may be sunk in the ground, 

 and surrounded by a sloping trough for 

 water, and that again by tall grasses ; this 

 is the method adopted by the president 

 of the Meriden Bird Club. It is perhaps 

 necessary to say that where the water is 

 not running water, it must be cleared out 

 with mop or brush fairly often and clean 

 water supplied. The too-familiar little 

 slippery crockery dish, with the water 

 all dried up, provided " because Bird people 

 say it will save our fruit, but it doesn't," 

 may well be relegated to the scrap-heap, and 

 a bath sensibly constructed to serve its 

 purpose and form a picturesque addition 

 to the garden, be substituted. 



