58 Twelve Months With 



fall until the bird apparently forgets to migrate to 

 a warmer clime. Many winter and semi-migra- 

 tory birds may be attracted to one's home in both 

 summer and winter by a regular practice of feed- 

 ing, and by a permanent basin of water for the 

 birds to use for drinking and bathing. 



The birds one may see and enjoy in May are 

 bewilderingly numerous. One of my May favor- 

 ites is the Baltimore oriole. To my mind he is 

 one of the few birds possessed of all the known bird 

 accomplishments. He has brilliant plumage, a 

 beautiful song, and is a master in the art of nest 

 building. When I hear his first golden whistle in 

 the spring, when the tulips are in full bloom, I am 

 reminded of Fawcett's beautiful lines : 



"How falls it, oriole, thou hast come to fly 

 In tropic splendor through our Northern sky? 



At some glad moment was its nature's choice 

 To dower a scrap of sunset with a voice? 



Or did some orange tulip, flaked with black, 

 In some forgotten garden, ages back, 



Yearning toward Heaven until its wish was heard, 

 Desire unspeakably to be a bird?" 



My young son, anxious to supply the robins 

 who had nested on our window ledge, with what 

 he thought was suitable material for their nest, 

 carried some fine threads of flax into the yard and 



