How to Attract the Birds 



The nuthatches' first acrobatic feats 



a tamarix bush would 

 be hard to find, unless 

 you happily discover 

 a tiny humming-bird 

 teaching her diminu- 

 tive babies how to 

 preen their feathers 

 daintily with their 

 needle-like bills. 

 They are taught to 

 attend to their toilet 

 when they are scarcely 

 larger than bumble- 

 bees. 



It was the rattle 

 of a male kingfisher 

 informing his babies 

 hidden within the 

 bank of a woodland 

 stream that he was 

 bringing them fish 

 for dinner, that first 

 advertised his well- 

 concealed nursery. 

 Through the long 

 tunnel the absurd- 

 looking, skinny little 

 birds, following one 

 another in Indian file, 

 would run forward 

 to greet him, then 

 as quickly run back- 

 wards to receive the 



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