468 Scudder, The Birds' Bath. [oct. 



Now I have seen these five kinds of baths taken by so many 

 birds, that I am sure of their importance in bird life. Certain 

 other variations occur occasionally. Thus, a Woodcock, after 

 taking a typical bath, stood in the water while dressing its feathers. 

 When all was done, and the feathers lying smooth, it stretched its 

 wings out fully, then flapped them very quickly for about three 

 seconds, raising them so high that they nearly met above its back. 

 After that, it walked off quietly. 



These observations were made chiefly in the southeastern part 

 of the state of New York. The birds most often seen were Blue 

 Jays, Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers, Wood-Thrushes, Robins, 

 Starlings, Catbirds, Scarlet Tanagers, Orioles, Bluebirds, Cowbirds, 

 Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown Thrashers, and various kinds of 

 vireos, flycatchers, sparrows, and warblers. 



Most of the observations were made between the middle of May 

 and the middle of July, with the beginning of May and the end of 

 October as limits for all but casual observation. This brings up 

 two recollections of the indifference of birds to temperature; a 

 Semipalmated Plover in the late fall, after sunset, bathing for more 

 than half a minute in a half frozen pool on a beach; and a herring 

 gull at noon of a day in which the thermometer never was above 

 ten degrees, stepping off a cake of ice in a harbor and bathing for 

 nearly half a minute. 



But in hot weather, is this bathing the reason for the mid-day 

 absence of birds from their usual places? Who can say? 



