BIRD BATHS 97 



a friend, and entice him to nest in the heart of your 

 flower patch. Listen to his song ; there is a mellow 

 quality to his voice and he can put more expres- 

 sion into his music than any other bird. There 

 is a flash of color and a burst of sweet melody, 

 listen — there is a scarlet tanager, singing love songs 

 to his mate. He is a veritable bird of Paradise 

 and once sported fearlessly among our trees, but 

 has now grown shy through being used as a target 

 for the sportsman's gun. Cultivate him by all 

 means. Toll him into your garden. 



Darting in and out of the garden one finds the 

 humming bird, so tiny that he measures only from 

 three and a half to three and three-quarters inches, 

 the smallest bird in our country. There is a glint 

 of color as he dashes fearlessly from flower to 

 flower, his brilliant metallic throat and breast 

 sparkling in the sunlight like a precious gem. The 

 trumpet flowers with their deep cup-shape blos- 

 soms are his special delight, although he never 

 scorns the sweet-scented flowers that he finds on 

 every side, Por a moment he poises in the air mo- 

 tionless, sighting his flower, then winging his flight, 

 he drains the nectar, uttering a shrill little squeak 

 of delight, as he spies some especially fat aphides 



