77

Concord, Mass.
1916.
Aug. 30
to
Nov. 4

Bathing birds.

attracted to that neighborhood by a broad and shallow
cemented pool made expressly for them at the edge of
our little lawn and kept constantly brimming full. In this
they bathed very frequently and with evident keen enjoyment,
sometimes by dozens at a time and oftenest when the sun
shone bright and warm, although by no means wholly
ungiven to similar indulgence during cloudy or perhaps
rainy weather, or even when, late in the season, the
water was not altogether free from ice. Such gatherings
often included Warblers, especially Black polls [Blackpoll Warbler] & Yellow rumps [Yellow-rumped Warbler],
while Jays and Flickers came singly every now & then &
Robins very numerously and regularly. There were times when
the pool was literary [literally] crowded with birds of various kinds
and sizes, thrashing the water with their wings and flinging
it upward in jets of silvery spray that sparkled in the
sunshine - a pretty sight to witness