BIRD HOUSES AND NATATORIUMS 239 



birds of all sorts waiting for a chance to bathe. 

 Large trees nearby added security and shade. A wire 

 nest, such as is used in poultry houses, is sunk in the 

 ground under a windmill tower covered with wire 

 netting and roses. The wire nest, given a coat of 

 cement and always filled with fresh water from the 

 tap, is much loved by brown thrushes, robins and 

 other large birds who bathe and fly into the netting 

 to dry and preen themselves. I have seen a dozen 

 brown thrushes there at one time. The flickers like 

 a dish set on the ground under the apple trees. The 

 big lily pool, of course, attracts many birds, especially 

 the mourning doves, and one memorable day saw 

 three blue herons about to make a descent upon its 

 placid waters. Fortunately for the welfare of the 

 gold fish which, with the frogs, claim the lily pool as 

 their especial domain, my presence frightened them 

 away, but the presence of herons so far from the 

 lake was something unknown before and proved quite 

 an exciting episode. 



But one need not depend entirely on houses of 

 wood and fountains of concrete and stone for the 

 comfort of the birds, for one may grow very com- 

 modious nests and baths of gourds with little trou- 

 ble and expense, letting nature do the fashioning 

 in many quaint and curious forms. Almost every 

 need of the birds may be supplied at the expense of 

 a few packets of seeds'and a little time and labor. 



