Bird Baths 229 



glimpse of a little food tray, filled with hemp 

 and millet which tends to keep the birds about 

 the spot even when the bath is over. 



There is hardly a limit to what may be done 

 with concrete in this way, especially if it is used 

 in connection with beautiful stones, pebbles, sand, 

 and shells. Small pools may be swept out often 

 enough to prevent mosquitoes from breeding; 

 in the larger ones a few small fish will quickly 

 devour the larvae of these insects. 



Of course, in the case of bird baths which are 

 not raised well above the ground, great care 

 must be taken that the little bathers are not 

 pounced upon by cats, which would otherwise 

 have the little songsters at an unusual disadvant- 

 age. The birds become so engrossed with the 

 joy of the bath that they are less wary than 

 usual, and their feathers being wet they fly 

 slowly and heavijy, often close to the ground. 

 If we cannot be sure about cats, we must either 

 have our bath raised well above the ground on 

 some object which a cat cannot climb, or else 

 we must be content with a bath out in the open, 

 without shrubs or grass about it, for behind such 

 things a cat will crouch. 



I have spoken of a bird bath made of a granite 

 boulder; we have two of this kind in Meriden, 

 New Hampshire, and they are among the most 



