BIRDS ^ 



for tlie kummers, and several came each day to banquet 

 tkere. The most exquisite tit of tird life I kave ever 

 seen ^vas tliat of a little motker bummer teaching her 

 tiny t^vins to feed at ttose golden horns - of - plenty. 

 Across the trook in an evergreen glade we wan- 

 dered in the early evening and list- 

 ened to the hells of the wood 

 ttrusli ringing m one of its to'w- 

 ers. His exclusive cousin, the her- 

 mit, never graced the glade ^vith his 

 ventriloquial m^usic, but in the ear- 

 ly days ■w^hen the cottage was 

 new and the evergreens stood at the 

 edge of a forest, his rare voice was 

 often heard. There was no need of 

 a bird garden then, for Nature 

 cared for all the birds around 

 t b e little gray bouse; only the 

 advance of civilization necessitated 

 the provision of food and shelter m 

 order to keep them there. 



'Jhe, garden was almost a s 

 attractive m -winter as in summer 

 and it was quite as interesting. ibe scarlet berries 

 of the bittersweet, black alder, and the barberry 

 mingled -with the black fruit of the sheepberry, making 

 a pleasing picture in the sno-w; -when a host of chickadees 

 and nuthatches came to feast on them, the hedge became 

 a thing of beauty. Chinese Christmas berry, arrow- 

 ■wood, Japanese silver thorn, mountain ash, woodbine and 





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Page Five 



