FEBRUARY, “THE LONG-SHORT MONTH” 321 
wayside brooks have had an influence upon their song. 
This particular year was a time of severe drought; the 
near-by streams were dried up early in June, and the 
‘birds’ bath,’ made of a hollowed-out log, and put in the 
shelter of some vines at the far end of the garden, was 
the nearest available water within half a mile. This trough 
was filled every night, and as the hollow sloped gently at 
one end, small birds could either walk in it to bathe, or 
perch on the edge to drink; and it was the sight of the 
first brood all bathing there, a few days after they left the 
nest, that made me sure that it was this little watering 
trough to which I owed their presence. 
“Many other birds besides the Sparrows came as well, 
and Robins and Wood Thrushes, who use wet clay in the 
shaping of their nests, found it particularly useful. Now 
I have a stone basin for the water, because the old wooden 
one was decayed on our return, but I’m sure the birds 
liked the mossy log the best, and Jacob Hughes is on the 
lookout for another.” 
Gray Lady paused and looked up quickly, as though a 
new idea had come to her; then, glancing at the older boys 
who had that morning been working on a large Martin 
house which had been ordered, and which made it certain 
that the wayside drinking-fountain would be built as soon 
as frost left the ground, she said, ‘‘This suggests some- 
thing more to be made for the spring sale. I saw some 
fine oak and beech logs with the bark still on at the lumber 
camp last week. If you are willing to undertake hollow- 
ing them out, it will be a good investment for the Kind 
Hearts’ Club to buy a half a dozen of them. When sawn 
into lengths of three feet, and the ends covered with bark 
nG 
