grove of white pines, about forty-five years old and some three 

 acres in extent. Here the robins roost in numbers in early 

 spring, late summer and early fall, when they come in at dusk 

 by hundreds. This is a breeding ground for jays, robins and 

 squirrels. Green herons often roost here. Warblers, kinglets, 

 titmice or creepers may be found in this grove almost any day 

 during the entire year. For most of the season the grove is 

 left to the birds, except for a part of each summer, when two 

 summer cottages within its confines are occupied. There 

 is a spring-fed pool in this grove, where water lilies, fish, frogs 

 and turtles form a combination which seems to attract both 

 feathered and unfeathered bipeds. This pool provides a bath- 

 ing and drinking place for the birds of the grove. Here herons 

 and kingfishers stop to fish. Here hawks stoop and wild fowl 

 occasionally rest. In 1903 a family of wood ducks often came 

 here. South of the grove is a field of three acres, devoted now 

 to the cultivation of sweet corn, roots and other vegetables. 

 This field is also surrounded by woods on three sides, with a 

 belt of trees and shrubbery for a wind-break on the fourth or 

 west side. This wind-break separates the field from a tract of 

 lowland of some fifteen or twenty acres, once mainly salt marsh, 

 but now, diked off and reclaimed from the river, it forms a 

 cranberry bog. A pool of an acre or more lies in the centre 

 of the bog. This was formerly an arm of the river called the 

 "toad hole," and often swarmed with fish. It is still a breed- 

 ing place for toads, and also a resort for herons, bitterns or 

 shore birds in their seasons. Swamp sparrows, sharp-tailed 

 finches and rails frequent its marshy borders. 



I have been thus particular in describing the surroundings 

 of the farm, because its fitness for attracting a variety of birds 

 seems to be almost ideal. 



In studying orchard birds, we learned that orchards sur- 

 rounded in part by woods and in part by open fields were 

 more frequented by birds, and therefore ' better protected 

 against injurious insects, than were those surrounded by fields 

 alone. The assumption that a garden similarly situated would 

 also receive a like measure of protection was perhaps war- 

 ranted. On such an assumption the selection of the location 

 for a garden was partially based. Our first task was to attract 



