330 



NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



Few people realize the importance of water to bird 

 life. How many times a day a bird drinks I have never 



seen stated or even 

 mentioned in any of 

 the books. 1 But we 



1 Water may be pro- 

 vided by placing a shallow 

 dish on a short post, high 

 enough to be out of the 

 reach of cats. The water 

 should be from one-half 

 inch deep on the shallow 

 side to two or three inches 

 in the deepest part, which 

 may ])e accomplished by 

 either tilting the dish or 

 by partially filling it with 

 washed sand or fine gravel. 

 A large flowerpot saucer 

 makes a good dish, as it 

 is a little rough, and it is 

 said that birds do not like 

 a slippery floor to stand 

 on when they bathe. Few 

 people who have not tried 

 it can have any idea of the 

 satisfaction there is in see- 

 ing the thirsty birds come 

 down to bathe and drink. 

 For five years past I 

 have had one by my study 

 window, and at the pres- 

 ent moment a robin is 

 making the water fly in 

 every direction. The next comer is an English sparrow, and the next 

 and the next and the next two, English sparrows, — while they are with 

 us we should not wish them to be thirsty, — and the next is a female 

 robin, the n^xt a red-eyed vireo, th^ next m English sparrow, all within 



Fig. 127. A Bird Bath 

 (Photograph by Timothy F. Myers) 



