262 BIRD FRIENDS 



be partially shaded, and various plants, such as ferns, 

 may be grown around it. If one has no access to 

 running water, the fountains may be cleaned out 

 once or twice a week with a broom. This frequent 

 cleaning will prevent mosquitoes from breeding. If 

 one has a supply of running water, this can be let in 

 at one side and out at the other. The overflow can 

 be disposed of by digging a hole several feet deep 

 and filling with rocks, into which the drain-pipe can 

 be led. This may then be covered with turf. 



Some members of the Meriden Bird Club use a 

 fountain made of zinc, which contains a succession of 

 five or six broad steps about one half -inch high and 

 seven inches wide, thus giving a range of from one 

 half to three inches in depth. This may also be made 

 with the bottom gradually sloping from one end to 

 the other. 



Visitors at fountains. The number of birds that 

 visit a fountain during a season may be very large. 

 The number that will occupy bird-houses is com- 

 paratively small, limited by the natural nesting- 

 habits of the birds; the number that may be at- 

 tracted by winter feeding is larger, but still limited 

 to those birds which have the ability to withstand 

 cold weather; the number that may be attracted 

 by fountains is still larger, as there is the possibility 

 of enticing birds from the three great groups of 

 transient visitants, summer residents, and perma- 

 nent residents. One observer reports that sixty- 



