TOO HEDGES, WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, ETC. 



not go South on account of the climate; but purely 

 on account of the insufficiency of food at the North 

 during the winter months. I am sure that we can 

 do very much to retain our visitors through a longer 

 season, and make them feel that this is not a mere 

 summer home. I have noted the catbird catching 

 flies and eating grapes about October first, indicating 

 a shortage of the food which he prefers. But my pet 

 bird (I have six catbirds' nests in my bushes and 

 hedges, all of them members of my family) always 

 sings to me the day before going away, and that is 

 about tne twenty-eighth of September. These glo- 

 rious musicians, the mocking-birds of the North, do 

 not sing at all as a rule after about August first, but 

 this one, that nests every year near my library bal- 

 cony and considers himself a little the most at home 

 with us, hunts me up the day before leaving, peeps in 

 at the window and sings a long and tender farewell. 

 I do not think he needs to go away because food is cut 

 off, or because of bad weather. It may be that he 

 knows something that he likes is just then getting 

 ripe down South, and he proposes to make it a visit. 

 However, I am sure we can make these beautiful and 

 useful friends feel at home with us by giving them 

 acceptable nesting places and food. This one bird, 

 of all others, most desirable as a singer and friend, 

 will not come to us or near to our homes unless we 

 furnish coverts for hiding, such as he will find in 

 hedges and windbreaks. After you have once made 

 the catbirds feel at home with you, so that they pour 

 out their music without fear or restraint, you will 

 never be willing to pass a summer without them. 

 The berry grower is very likely to disagree with 



