BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



not get food, and the migrating birds coming 

 early are often overtaken by storms that clear 

 the air of insects, or freeze the ground for days 

 at a time so they cannot get enough to keep 

 them alive. 



Studying bird life, one finds that in their 

 natural state the small ponds and streams at- 

 tract the nesting birds. Every year it has be- 

 come more difficult for birds to find safety and 

 a nesting place where there is any chance of 

 getting either a drink or a bath. With the 

 clearing away of the woods, springs and 

 streams have dried up, and the larger rivers 

 that have survived the change flow through the 

 towns or the farm lands, and the trees on their 

 banks are becoming few and far between. 



Swallows always choose in preference a barn 

 beside which there is a spring where they can 

 drink and bathe and get the mud with which 

 to plaster their nests. It was their apprecia- 

 tion of the spring at one of the barns that made 

 us think of supplying a drinking fountain. 

 Our first attempt in this direction was a pan 

 of water in the middle of a nasturtium box on 

 the lawn ; and here the birds flew in among the 

 flowers and drank and splashed. The Peewee 

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