386 USEFUL BIRDS. 
a shallow floating basin, provided with a wide wooden rim 
to keep it afloat, may be used. 
There are usually springs or brooks about the farm, where 
birds can drink or bathe; but too often the long grass or 
low bushes about these 
drinking places conceal 
the crafty cat, which lies 
in wait to catch birds 
when their feathers are 
wet from bathing. A 
fountain on the closely 
cropped lawn, like the 
one designed by Mr. 
Chapman, is admirable 
if cats can be kept from 
it. 
When the cherry 
trees are in blossom 
the Hummingbirds 
come. There should 
be a succession of 
es : Dapeueoues gj nectar-bearing flowers 
Fig. 163.—Mr. Chapman’s bird bath. (From in the garden, to at- 
a ap tract them. The gla- 
diolus, honeysuckle, and bee balm are favorite flowers, but 
many others lure the Hummingbirds. 
Providing Nesting Places about Buildings. 
When the tide of bird life begins to turn northward in the 
spring, and before farm work becomes pressing, we should 
see that plenty of suitable nesting places are provided about 
our buildings for the birds, and that there is an abundant 
supply of nesting material with which they can construct 
their homes. 
Birds, like men, are largely controlled by circumstances. 
The presence or absence of a nesting place may decide a pair 
of birds for or against the acceptance of a certain locality as 
a place of residence. 
In the rough buildings of our grandfathers there were 
