CHAPTER XVI 



MAKING SURROUNDINGS ATTRACTIVE 



Without surroundings which are pleasing to birds, efforts 

 to attract them will be uphill work. The matter of vegeta- 

 tion is the prime factor, which furnishes food, shelter, and 

 nesting-sites. Where there is congestion, traffic, noise, ab- 

 sence from vegetation and water, and a host of watchful 

 cats, one cannot expect many birds. It is a wonder that 

 birds come at all where they sometimes do, and it furnishes 

 many a delightful surprise to find a bird responding to the 

 least possible encouragement. Such a case was when George 

 Eastman, in his garden, in the heart of the city of Rochester, 

 New York, had a large thick shrub in a pot taken from his 

 greenhouse and placed just outside his dining-room window. 

 Along came a pair of catbirds and built their nest in it, and 

 Mr. Eastman enjoyed watching them through the glass at 

 close range when he came to breakfast. Once I had a pair 

 of indigo-birds nest in my garden in Boston in a thick 

 syringa bush, a species which would never have stayed there 

 unless there had been quite a tangle. As already stated, 

 one can begin with the artificial methods, to enjoy the pres- 

 ence of at least a few birds, and meanwhile be improving 

 the surroundings, to make them as attractive as possible. 

 Methods of doing the latter will now be suggested along 



several lines. 



a. AttractiveVegetation 



No bird prefers an arid desert. Even the birds of field 

 or prairie, such as the bobolink and meadowlark, are de- 



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