330 



NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



Few people realize the importance of water to bird 

 life. How many times a day a bird drinks I have never 



seen stated or even 

 mentioned in any of 

 the books. ^ But we 



1 Water may be pro- 

 vided by placing a shallow 

 dish on a short post, high 

 enough to be out of the 

 reach of cats. The water 

 should be from one-half 

 inch deep on the shallow 

 side to two or three inches 

 in the deepest part, which 

 may be accomplished by 

 either tilting the dish or 

 by partially filling it with 

 washed sand or fine gravel. 

 A large flowerpot saucer 

 makes a good dish, as it 

 is a little rough, and it is 

 said that birds do not like 

 a slippery floor to stand 

 on when they bathe. Few 

 people who have not tried 

 it can have any idea of the 

 satisfaction there is in see- 

 ing the thirsty birds come 

 down to bathe and drink. 

 For five years past I 

 liave had one by my study 

 window, and at the pres- 

 ent moment a robin is 

 making the water fly in 

 every direction. The next comer is an English sparrow, and the next 

 and the next and the next two, English sparrows, — while they are with 

 us we should not wish them to be thirsty, — and the next is a female 

 robin, the next a red-eyed vireo, the next an English sparrow, all within 



Fig. 127. A Bird Bath 

 (Photograph by Timothy F. Myers) 



