How to Invite Bird Neighbours 



But see to it that the pan is raised above the 

 reach of cats ; only on large estates where none are 

 kept is it safe to sink the pan into a lawn. Birds 

 cannot fly far with wet feathers. They must first 

 dry and preen them. For this reason, as well as for 

 the cool shade they afford, trees and shrubbery 

 should partially screen the drinking water. Where 

 a small stream cannot trickle into a fountain, fresh 

 water poured in a pan daily, or even twice a day at 

 midsummer, is very gratefully appreciated when 

 many a rare, shy bird, its bill open and gasping from 

 the heat, seeks refreshment. If the water be deep, 

 the birds will let it alone through fear of drowning 



when they stand on 



the brim, and tip 

 forward as they 

 must for a draught. 

 A pan shallow 

 enough for wading, 

 or a deeper one sup- 

 plied with stones for 

 the drinkers to stand 

 on safely, furnishes 

 more interesting 

 sights to a household 

 and pure fun than 

 any other object you 

 can watch through- 

 out a season. Chil- 

 dren enjoy it keenly. 

 Sixty-nine different 

 species of birds, many rare warblers and migrants 

 among them, came in one season to drink on a 



A bird home made from a wooden 

 starch box 



