Bird Gardening on Cape Ann 133 



habits and grow more tolerant of their kind during the breeding season. A 

 heavy gale, which swept the country in June, caused me some anxiety as to 

 the welfare of the Swallows on account of the scarcity of insects during the 

 three days of rain. The birds, however, benefited from a scheme that I hit 

 upon — putting a piece of fish carrion on the lattice near their pole, which 

 attracted some flies. These they continually took, hovering over the carrion 

 in a way that showed how much they needed help at the time when their 

 young were about half-grown. Five young ones at last were reared by this 

 pair by July 4. 



Unfortunately, there seems little prospect of the Purple Martin ever com- 

 ing to this part of the state. Three years ago. Chimney Swifts favored us by 

 homing in the chimney, but since these two families left, no others have come. 



In a sweetbriar tangle, not thirty feet from the cottage, a family of Cat- 

 birds have nested and Brown Thrashers were not far from them. These con- 

 fiding neighbors were constantly in sight, feeding upon the bread, oatmeal and 

 cereals which we threw upon the small lawn for them. I am quite convinced, 

 though, that their offspring all fell victims to the ubiquitous cats. Two hundred 

 feet away, in a barberry bush, another pair of Catbirds raised two young in a 

 more favored retreat. 



Undoubtedly the most abundant, and certainly as satisfactory as any of 

 the small birds, are the Song Sparrows. These, with a few other species of 

 the Sparrows, throng our food-trays, as many as twenty having been seen in 

 one flock within a space of twenty feet square, where I threw out my seed 

 refuse from the cages of some foreign Finches which I keep. The latter are 

 unquestionably the cause of attracting many native birds, not only by their 

 song, but by their presence. In the bird-house where they are kept with other 

 reptiles and animals under observation, I have found Song Sparrows, a Mary- 

 land Yellowthroat, female Redstart and a Vireo. 



The wild birds are beginning to know how to find their way in and out of 

 the constantly open door and windows. In the immediate vicinity of the 

 cottage, if not within sight of the porch, are the nests of the Baltimore Oriole, 

 Purple Finch, two pairs of Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warbler, Maryland Yel- 

 lowthroat, two pairs of Robins and the Chipping Sparrow. The latter lost her 

 three nestlings during the severe storm in June. A Robin nesting beneath a 

 neighbor's porch also lost a nest of seven eggs at the same time. 



Black-billed Cuckoos spend much time in our trees. Frequent visits from 

 several young Cowbirds with their Song Sparrow foster parents, characterize 

 the day's events at the food-tables. Again, during August, the tables con- 

 taining kitchen refuse will be visited early in the morning by as many as twenty 

 Bronzed Crackles. While looking from my window at the same time, several 

 Brown Thrashers, a Catbird, several Robins, occasionally Crows at the more 

 distant trays, have been seen feeding; while, no doubt attracted by the com- 

 pany, a Flicker, some pugnacious Kingbirds, and a darting Warbler may be 



