ATTRACTING BIRDS TO EESEEVATIONS. 7 



Supplying water, nest boxes ^ and winter food goes far toward 

 making a bird -haven, but it is important also to supplement the 

 summer food. This can best be done by planting fruit-bearing 

 shrubs and trees. Shrubs and trees are essential elements of park 

 composition, but according to the judgment of bird lovers better 

 choice than is often made is distinctly possible. 



The guiding principle in park planning should be beauty, but it 

 should not be a temporary or one-seasonal beauty. Hence it follows 

 that shrubs and trees which produce colored fruits, and retain them 

 for long periods, are preferable to plants whose chief decorative 

 contribution is a short burst of bloom. Such shrubs are handsomer 

 at all times after flowering and are particularly valuable in winter 



BII06M 



Fig. 4.— Martin house in parklike surroundings. 



when every bit of color in the landscape is precious. They are 

 valuable moreover in supplying bird food. The kinds preferred by 

 birds are shown in Table I (p. 8), and the species most suitable for 

 various sections of the country are listed in the Farmers' Bulletins 

 mentioned in the footnote on page 1. 



A few further suggestions as to the use of fruit-producing plants 

 are not out of place. The ideal American park is natural woodland, 

 modified and embelHshed, or a planting that follows natural lines. 

 Informal treatment is almost universally preferred to formal. From 

 the standpoint of bird attraction this is fortunate, since cHpping 

 shrubs either prevents or reduces the production of fruit and causes 

 the plants to form such solid and dense surfaces that they are un- 

 inviting to birds. 



