BIRD BASINS AND FEEDING TABLES 



Other state granges have taken up the plea for 

 better bird protection. It has been suggested that 

 bird fountains situated on the ground, where man; 

 varieties of birds prefer to drink and bathe, shall 

 be protected from cats by an enclosure of chicken 

 wire, open only at the top. Drinking basins and 

 feeding platforms can be protected by outspreading 

 bands of zinc or tin about the poles or tree trunks 

 on which they are set. Chicken wire shaped like 

 a hat brim is another simple contrivance for plac- 

 ing around the pole to keep cats and squirrels from 

 climbing up. 



When California established the state bird farm 

 near Hayward, Alameda County, it became an ob- 

 ject of interest to travellers from all sections. These 

 efforts to conquer the insect pests that afflicted the 

 state, by the breeding and protecting of birds, at- 

 tracted a wide-reaching attention. 



The League of American Sportsmen and the Au- 

 dubon societies of various states are not satisfied 

 simply to enlist the aid of all good citizens in creat- 

 ing legal barriers against the useless destruction 

 of bird life. The slaughter of the egret and other 

 birds to satisfy feminine vanity and the killing of 

 song birds for food are responsible for only a part 

 of the strong public sentiment which these societies 

 are arousing. The breeding, protecting, and be- 



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