BIRD BATHS AND DRINKING POOLS’ 
By Ernest Harold Baynes 
drought, there is nothing more 
attractive to birds than water. 
They need it to drink and to bathe in, 
and when the natural pools and streams 
are dried up, they will come from far 
and near to visit a properly constructed 
bird bath. At the very time this chap- 
ter is being written the weather is very 
hot and dry and birds are coming to the 
artificial baths in this village, Meriden, 
New Hampshire, not one at a time, but 
by scores. Only this morning they 
gathered at a little cement bath just 
outside my study window, and gave it 
the appearance of an avian Manhattan 
Beach. I saw two bluebirds, a che- 
wink, a white-throated sparrow, a song 
sparrow, a junco, a chipping sparrow 
and a myrtle warbler, all bathing at 
once and at least a score of other birds 
were hopping about in the grass or 
perched in the bushes nearby, awaiting 
their turn. There are similar scenes 
at nearly all the bird baths in Meriden. 
One example will suffice. In the Bird 
Sanctuary there is a bath made from a 
granite boulder, or rather half a boulder, 
for it was split in two, ages ago, proba- 
bly by the frost. It broke in such a 
way that one half had a gently-sloping 
concave surface and we took this half, 
turned the concave surface uppermost 
that when filled with water it might 
form a natural pool for the birds. It 
was set upon a well-made stone founda- 
tion, and a hole was drilled down 
through to admit a lead pipe which 
supplies running water. As I ap- 
proached this bath one evening after 
|" hot weather, especially in time of 
1 This article is from Mr. Baynes’s forthcoming 
book, Wild Bird Guests and How to Entertain 
Them. E. P. Dutton and Company, New York. 
sundown, I saw the whole surface of the 
water dancing as though a shoal of little 
fish were sporting in it, and spray was 
flying in every direction. It was simply 
a flock of birds taking their evening 
bath. Perhaps because night was com- 
ing on they were too impatient to wait 
their turn, for all seemed to be trying 
to get in at once, and most of them were 
successful. Juncos seemed to be most 
numerous, but there were several blue- 
birds and myrtle warblers and some 
sparrows which in their wet plumage 
and in the uncertain light I could not 
identify. A little apart a phoebe sat on 
a twig above the pool, watching for 
chances to dip down into the water for 
an instant, after which she would re- 
turn to the twig to preen her feathers. 
Birds come to our bird baths every day 
in summer and fall, in an almost con- 
tinuous procession, but usually just a few 
are present at the same moment. They 
come in large flocks only at exceptional 
times, usually during severe drought. 
Bird baths may be as simple or as 
elaborate as one likes. A rough earthen- 
ware 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 and may attract some of 
the most delightful birds. I have seen 
robins, catbirds, Baltimore orioles and 
rose-breasted grosbeaks and many others 
bathe in an earthenware saucer. But 
the supplying of water is so very impor- 
tant 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 chiefly for the fluid contained. 
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