144 An Old-fashioned Garden 



birds, it must not be supposed that they are 

 all that are available. There are scores of 

 wild birds, known only to the ornithologist, 

 that can be " cultivated" as readily as the 

 wild shrubbery that under startling names 

 figures in many a florist's catalogue. Give 

 them a foothold, and they will come to stay. 

 Orioles, thrushes, vireos, fly-catchers, are 

 not unreasonably afraid of man, and would 

 quickly acquire confidence if they were war- 

 ranted in so doing. How long would a 

 scarlet tanager or a cardinal grosbeak remain 

 unmolested if it appeared in any city street ? 

 Here is the whole matter in a nutshell : the 

 birds are not averse to coming, but the people 

 will not let them. This is the more strange, 

 when we remember that hundreds of dollars 

 were spent to accommodate the pestiferous 

 imported sparrow, that is and always must 

 be a positive curse. Hundreds for sparrows, 

 and not one cent for a bluebird ! While the 

 mischief can never be undone, it can be held 

 in check, if we will but take the trouble, 

 and this is a mere matter of town-garden 

 rearrangement ; and why, indeed, not treat 

 our ears to music as well as our eyes to color 

 and our palates to sweetness ? Plant here 



