ENCOURAGING BIRDS AROUND THE HOME 



By FREDERICK H. KENNARD 



NOW that our country has really 

 awakened to the im|jortance of 

 hird life to the citizens, and at 

 last enacted some '\'erv wise legislation, 

 forhidding the killing of migratory and 

 insectiA'orous fiirds, putting migratory 

 game l)irds under Federal control, and 

 forhidding the importation of ptlnmage 

 from abroad, public interest in birds and 

 their great economic value seems to have 

 been stirred as nev-er before. 



fiirds come north for the \'erv special 

 |)urpose of finding a proper place fcjr the 

 rearing of their \x)ung, and, this task ac- 

 com])lished, as autumn a]ipro<aches, soon 

 de]),art in search of areas where there 

 will be throughout the winter plenty of 

 food and co\-er and a more congenial 

 climate. 



If we want to make our homes at- 

 lracti\-e lo birds, we lunst alwaws kee]") 

 the aliove facts in mind. If in summer 

 we want to attract the migrants from the 

 v^outh, ;is well as the ijermanent resi- 

 dents, we must furnish them with proper 

 places for the rearing of their young, 

 which should include not only nesting 

 sites, but co\er, food, and water; and if 

 in winter we want to keep some of the 

 permanent residents about our homes 

 and attract migrants from the Xortli, we 

 must remember that lhe\' are again in 

 search "f food and coyer. 



( )nce having attracted the birds, a 

 shar|) lookout ruust be kept in order to 

 Ijrotect them from their enemies — cats, 

 bird-hunting dogs, red sc|uirrels, skunks, 

 fo.xes, and other predatory animals (not 

 forgetting the small boy that used to be 

 ubiquitous ) , English sparrows, horned 

 owls, and sometimes crows and jays, 

 coo])er and sharp-shinned hawks, and 

 last, but not le.'ist, the black snake. 



now To ,\T'1'1<.\CT 'I'lIE lURDS 



To sum up, if we are to attract birds in 

 summer, we must furnish them with 

 pro])cr nesting sites, co\'er, food, and also 



water; and if we want to keep them in 

 winter, we luust again furnish them with 

 co\'er and food, and always protect them 

 from their enemies. 



The most important factor in attract- 

 ing birds is the supplying of cover suit- 

 able for their wants. With this properly 

 done, except in the case of birds that 

 nest about builditigs or in holes, nature 

 will supph^ the nesting sites, as well as 

 take care of the food supph", except in 

 tt'inter. 



,\t "The Pines," my place in Newton 

 Center, Mass., we have had for eight 

 years under close observation about 44 

 acres, comprising three acres of lawn 

 dotted with a few old apple trees, six 

 acres of wet meadow, which are allowed 

 to grow up with tussocks of grass, cedars, 

 alders, wild roses, and the like, and the 

 remaining 35 acres divided into t\vo areas 

 of about equal size. The first of these 

 areas, that aljout the house, is covered 

 with a growth of pines, hemlocks, ce- 

 dars, lurches, and \'arious other deciduous 

 trees, among which we have taken pains 

 to cultivate suitable coppice and under- 

 growth, while the second area, covered 

 with deciduous woods, is, on account of 

 a fire that ran through it a number of 

 N'cars ago, almost de\'oid of the smaller 

 evergreens or protecting coppice and un- 

 dergrowth (see pages 162 and 163). 



In the first of these areas (page 162) 

 soiue thirty different species of birds 

 breed nearly every year, while in the sec- 

 ond area only from three to fi\'e difi'erent 

 species build their nests. 



.\lmost e\'ery one who lives in the 

 countr_\' can do something in the way of 

 attracti\'e planting aliout his house and 

 grounds, and e\en in the more closely 

 settled suburbs almost ever\' place, no 

 matter how small, can by judicious plant- 

 ing Ije luade attractive to Itirds. Even a 

 l:)ack ward may in its limited way, with 

 proper treatment, be made a regular ren- 

 dezvous for birds in the vicinity. 



160 



