134 Bird - Lore 



been Goldfinches in winter dress. I dared not go too near for fear of fright- 

 ening the whole flock. There were Robins, Grackles and, I think, some Spar- 

 rows also, but the Juncos far outnumbered all the rest. I went a second 

 afternoon and saw the same thing repeated. 



"while one of our family was using the garden hose one afternoon, a Ruby- 

 throated Hummingbird flew under the spray and took a good drenching, then 

 flew up to a telephone wire to preen and dress its feathers. 



"it is a temptation to tell of the many incidents connected with that bath-tub 

 which I saw from my window, about four feet away, but I will mention one: 

 A mother Catbird brought her young hopeful there for, I have no doubt, his 

 first bath. She seemed to be coaxing him to enter the water, which he was 

 reluctant to do. Finally he made the plunge and was as delighted as any 

 small boy in the gutter, and one never saw a prouder mother ! The pan always 

 stood on a box about two feet above ground and she walked round and round 

 on the box arching her pretty neck like a true thoroughbred; once she hopped 

 on the rim of the pan looking down on her offspring with greatest pride. When 

 he was satisfied with his splashing, they flew away together. She did not go 

 into the water. 



"Wrens enjoy a dust bath. The paths in my garden are at times dotted with 

 little hollows made by them. One coquettish little fellow, who always tried to 

 attract my attention whenever I went into the garden, would fly down in 

 front of me, a few feet away and whirl about in the dust. 



"I think birds bathe at any hour of the day, but they were more apt to come 

 the first half of the forenoon or latter half of afternoon." — L. Elizabeth Clark, 

 Decatur, Mich. 



NOTES FROM NOVA SCOTIA 



"Replying to Mr. Seton's inquiry, I have seen Robins, in pairs, bathing in 

 the early dawn of tener than at any other time, in flower-pot saucers on the 

 lawn, arranged to receive the drippings of the hose from the top of its reel. 

 They go in and shake their wings up and down, hop out and go in again 

 repeatedly. I have also seen them do the same thing in the heat of the day. 

 Two or three times last autumn, when they were supposed to have left us, I 

 saw large flocks of a dozen or more bathing in the dusk of early evening. 

 They perched on the bushes, and flew around in great excitement ; they were 

 never still for a moment while waiting a chance to bathe. The three saucers 

 were always in use, 



"Sparrows, Warblers, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Redstarts, Juncos, also 

 bathe at intervals all day in warm weather, but I have not seen Vireos nor any 

 of the larger birds except the Robins. Hummingbirds have been seen to bathe 

 by a neighbor, but not by me. They come often to drink the drops at the end of 

 the hose."— A. A. DesBrisay, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. 



