BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



and the Song Sparrow, the Goldfinch and the 

 Robin and the Catbird bathed there, and the 

 whole family of Flickers, one after the other. 

 When they had finished with their baths all the 

 water was splashed out. With just this one 

 little pan we could not keep them supplied. 

 They would have it empty before we were up 

 in the morning, and most birds wanted to bathe 

 morning, noon and night. Then we considered 

 how we could make for them a more permanent 

 bath. One day, when walking among the old 

 stumps and fallen logs on the flats beside the 

 bush, a bright idea came to us. Why not take 

 one of those big stumps and stand it upside 

 down? The root ends extending out would 

 make perches of all sizes, and the centre could 

 be hollowed out and lined with cement so that 

 we would have a very natural drinking foun- 

 tain that would not leak. Here the birds could 

 splash to their heart's content, and then dry 

 and sun their feathers on the perches about it. 

 So a stump was selected and brought up to the 

 lawn. The drinking fountain made in this way 

 won the immediate approval of the feathered 

 tribe. 



In making a drinking fountain it should be 

 [193] 



