34 
THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
casionally chirps and calls are heard 
from our nesting birds, those that sang 
so sweetly in the springtime. 
Occasionally August afternoons are 
swept by heavy thunderstorms, but 
after the storm the atmosphere is de- 
lightfully fresh. Some days the air is 
redolent with the odor of smoke from 
forest fires, brought by the western 
breezes from western forests. Then a 
soft haze lies over the landscape. 
Thus the dreamy Summer days pass 
by, slowly lengthening into Autumn 
days. August is the fruitful month, 
when all things are matured, ready for 
the fatal frosts that are just around the 
corner. 
Bird Houses in the Parkway 
Reservation. 
BY BRONX PARKWAY COMMISSION, BRONXVILLE, 
NEW YORK. 
Through the generosity of a bird 
lover, who prefers to remain anony- 
mous, cash prizes have been ottered to 
public schools along the Bronx River 
Parkway Reservation, and have re- 
house. The manual training teachers, 
who acted as judges, took into consid- 
eration meritorious design as well as 
construction. Girls as well as boys 
competed and produced creditable 
work. 
1 he Bronx River Parkway Reserva- 
tion extends from Bronx Park to Ken- 
sico Dam at \ alhalla, and is being de- 
veloped under the supervision of a 
State Commission, whose members are 
Madison Grant, representing the Bor- 
ough of Manhattan, William W. Niles, 
representing the Borough of the Bronx, 
and Frank Id. Bethell, representing 
Westchester County. 
The Reservation follows the beauti- 
ful Bronx River Valley, which is well 
wooded in some sections and in open 
portions is being reforested with 
shrubs and trees. The Parkway Com- 
mission is carrying out a large amount 
of improvement work in deepening the 
Bronx River and forming small lakes 
for water sports. The banks of this 
beautiful river were formerly de- 
spoiled and given over to garbage 
BRONX PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASS 
WITH BIRD HOUSES BUILT IN BRONX RIVER PARKWAY 
COMPETITION. 
I 1 
fi 
friar 
— ifim - ~ 
suited in the production of about seven 
hundred bird houses, which have been 
installed in trees on the Reservation. 
Competitions were held in about 
twelve schools adjacent to the Reserva- 
tion, and prizes of five dollars, three 
dollars and two dollars were offered in 
each school for the best built bird 
dumps. Sewage and other pollution has 
now been entirely eliminated, and a 
naturalistic landscape development is 
being carried out. 
Well watered and wooded, this val- 
ley provides cover for large numbers 
of our native birds. That it would form 
an ideal bird refuge was the idea of the 
