ae ae 
. 4 : 
a . 
Photograph by Ernest Harold Baynes 
SONG-SPARROWS TAKING A BATH 
“A pool with foundation of concrete sunken in the ground 
interesting feature of any garden, to say nothing of its attractiveness to birds. 
can be made a very 
It is essen- 
tial, however, that the slope of the sides should be gradual and the water at the edges 
shallow” (see page 172). 
the planting of food for ducks. If the 
lay of the ground is such that a meadow 
or woodland glade may be flooded and a 
pond thereby installed, there is hardly 
any limit to the enjoyment that may be 
derived from a pond of this sort. 
There is a little woodland glade, con- 
taining an acre or so, on my place, an 
opening in the woods surrounded by red 
maples, birches, alders, poison sumach, 
white azalea, high-bush blueberries, etc., 
which I flooded one winter merely as a 
safe skating pond for the children in the 
neighborhood. 
ATTRACTING THE WILD DUCK 
Imagine my surprise and delight when 
one spring day, after the ice had gone, 
I discovered there a whole flock of wild 
wood-ducks, and later during the sum- 
mer was able to watch a flock of little 
“flappers,” the progeny of a pair of wild 
black ducks that had bred there. Herons 
came there, too, and red wings fre- 
quented the edge of the pond. From an 
uninteresting swamp the place had been 
completely metamorphosed into a very 
attractive and interesting spot, replete 
with bird life. 
If wild rice can be made to grow, 
ducks will be sure to come in greater 
numbers each year, while regular feeding 
with corn at proper times may prove an 
additional attraction to whole flocks of 
ducks during the migration. Tame call- 
ducks may be introduced, and if there are 
near-by woods nest boxes for the attrac- 
tion of the wood-ducks should be put up. 
One may even go into the raising of 
ducks, though this is often both bother- 
some and expensive, while the simple 
flooding of a meadow and _ intelligent 
planting of its shores is comparatively 
little trouble. 
Mr. Herbert K. Job, State Ornitholo- 
gist of Connecticut, is having some very 
174 
