BIRDS IN GARDEN AND ORCHARD. 



~| nX URING the last year I have 



I I received quite a number of 



IUt) I letters from all over the 



^..— «^^^r United States, inquiring 



why so few birds are 



found about the homes, among the 



ornamental shrubs and trees, and in 



the orchard. My correspondents also 



wish to know how our beautiful native 



songsters can be induced to take up 



their residence in the neighborhood of 



man. As the many inquiries came 



from the East, the West, the North, 



and the South, I shall treat the subject 



in the following manner : 



The northern, eastern, and central 

 states show but little difference as to 

 their bird-life, and there is also little 

 diversity in regard to the ornamental 

 trees and shrubs of the gardens. The 

 region included is bounded on the 

 the north by the British possessions, 

 on the east by the Atlantic ocean, on 

 the west by the Rocky mountains, and 

 on the south by the Indian Territory, 

 Arkansas, Tennessee, and North 

 Carolina. While living in the country 

 I have always had birds at my home 

 and in the neighborhood, and I shall, 

 therefore, give my own experience. 



Birds settle only where they find 

 the surroundings perfectly congenial, 

 and where they are protected and 

 consequently feel safe ; where dense 

 shrubbery, evergreens, and decid- 

 uous trees abound, and where 

 water and suitable nesting mater- 

 ial are near at hand. In one gar- 

 den they are exceedingly numerous, 

 while in another one close by, only a 

 few pairs, perhaps, are to be found. 

 When protected, they soon learn to 

 regard man as their friend. Their 

 enemies, especially Cats, Squirrels, and 

 Owls, must not be allowed to rove 

 about in the garden and orchard, and 

 such thieves and robbers as the Blue 



Jay, the Loggerhead Shrike or Butcher 

 Bird, and that abominable tramp and 

 anarchist among birds, the English 

 Sparrow, should never be tolerated in 

 a garden or park where other birds are 

 expected to make their homes. 



In the days of my boyhood the 

 groves re echoed with the songs of 

 many birds ; the woods, however, have 

 been cleared away, and in the poor 

 remnants of the once magnificent 

 forests there are few birds to be found 

 today. The sweet notes of the Veery, 

 the thundering sounds of the Ruffed 

 Grouse, the loud hammering of the 

 Pileated Woodpecker, are no longer 

 heard. I have devoted much tim.e to 

 erecting bird houses and planting 

 ornamental trees and shrubs for the 

 accommodation of the birds. Here 

 they soon took up their residences. 

 On the top of the barn and granary 

 Martin boxes were placed, and in the 

 gables of the barn holes were cut to 

 admit the pretty Barn Swallow and the 

 Phoebe. Among the first birds to settle 

 were the Robins and Bluebirds, both 

 heralds of spring, appearing in the last 

 days of March or early in April from 

 their winter homes in our Southern 

 States. The Baltimore Oriole sus- 

 pended its beautiful hanging nest from 

 a high horizontal branch of a Walnut 

 tree. The Cedar Bird, quiet and 

 retired in its habits, and a most beauti- 

 ful denizen of the garden, placed its 

 nest constructed of sheep's wool on a 

 low horizontal branch of an Oak. The 

 sprightly Canary-like song of the 

 American Goldfinch, often called the 

 Wild Canary, was heard throughout 

 the summer, and its cozy little nest, 

 lined warmly with thistle-down, was 

 placed in the upright exterior branches 

 of a Sugar Maple. In the same tree, 

 but lower down on a horizontal branch 

 the exquisite pendulous nest of the 



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