122 METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



Floating Bath, — The author has seen the 

 suggestion that floating basins may be placed in 

 ponds where the conditions around the edge are 

 such that the birds do not frequent them. This 

 basin should be shallow and may be kept afloat 

 by a wide wooden rim. No record has been found 

 of the trial of a basin of this kind, so the author 

 does not know how effective this would be. 



As food kept out in the spring may be a means 

 of inducing birds to nest in the neighborhood, 

 so, too, drinking-fountains may help in bringing 

 about the same results. 



Visitors at Fountains. — The number of birds 

 that visit a fountain during a season is very 

 large. The number which will occupy bird-houses 

 is comparatively small, limited by the natural 

 nesting-habits of the birds ; the number that may 

 be attracted by winter feeding is larger, but still 

 limited to those birds which have the ability to 

 withstand our cold weather ; the number that may 

 be attracted by fountains is still larger, there 

 being the possibility of enticing birds from the 

 three great groups of migrants, summer residents, 

 and permanent residents. One observer reports 

 that 69 different species of birds, many rare 

 warblers and migrants among them, came in one 

 season to drink from a basin on a suburban lawn. 



