Planting to Attract the Birds 
By Professor Alan F. Arnold 
New York State College of Forestry, Syracuse, New York. 
There are certain things besides plants that have been inti- 
mately associated with gardens from the earliest times. Water 
and statuary are perhaps the first of these things to come to 
mind ; among others are birds. In a description of a garden by 
Theocritus, in the third century, B. C, we read that "the larks 
were singing and the hedge-birds, and the turtle-dove moaned" 
and subsequent writers of garden literature, through Addison 
who valued his "garden more for being full of blackbirds than 
Cherries" and James Russell Lowell who noted how brightly the 
robins' breasts shone "in a rainy day against the dark-green of 
the Fringe-tree, ' ' continually refer to the interest and charm that 
birds give to gardens. Some writers even consider the birds to 
be indispensable. The memory of a garden will sometimes depend 
more on having seen or heard one particular bird in it than on 
any of its strictly garden features. 
There probably are few garden owners who would not be glad 
to encourage the birds to come into their gardens and much may 
be accomplished in this direction by judicious planting. It is 
said that some species of birds are in danger of disappearing 
altogether from certain localities on account of the lack of native 
plants on which they depend for shelter and food. "What is 
most needed to help such a situation is, of course, planting in 
suburban and country districts, but the right kind of plants in 
city gardens will also be of value. 
Fortunately many of the trees and shrubs most liked by the 
birds are among our best ornamental plants for the garden. 
There are many small trees with beautiful flowers and showy 
fruits which are excellent garden plants and also very desirable 
for the birds. First among these are the Flowering Dogwoods, the 
Hawthorns and the smaller Crab Apples. Some of these make 
shapely trees which can be used as individual specimens and 
others are desirable where a tall mass is wanted ; the fruit of all 
of them is of the first rank as food for the birds. An Evergreen 
tree standing at the head of the list for both garden use and the 
birds is the Red Cedar. For shrubs, the Viburnums, Dogwoods, 
Honeysuckles, Bayberries and Privets are perhaps the best. Some 
of the trees and shrubs especially liked by the birds are not well 
adapted to a small, formal or scrupulously kept garden but would 
be all right in a larger or less finished one. Here we have the 
Shad Bush, Sumac, Snowberry, Elder, High Bush Blueberry, 
Black Alder, some of the Roses, etc. 
The food provided by the fruit of these plants is the main 
reason for planting them for the birds, but the provision of 
shelter and nesting sites is also important. The trees mentioned 
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