18 
setting the key for the orchestra and soloists; then the cheery 
call of the song sparrow, and soon the concert is in full swing, 
making the old Dingle thrill and throb with notes never heard 
on a man-made stage. Minutes glide along, the sun gets higher 
and higher; one by one the soloists slip out of sight, and the con¬ 
cert ends before mid-day. Late afternoon may bring a matinee, 
but never so full and joyous as the morning programme. 
And why do the birds make this spot their concert hall in the 
early morning hours, and their nesting place and home during 
the mating and breeding season? First, protection, because of 
the comparative isolation and the density of the undergrowth. 
Second, convenient food supply, and water furnished by a little 
brook trickling through the shrubbery and grass. 
Protection at all times is no less important than food. The 
density of the Dingle seems to furnish all the safety that the 
birds desire. Not only are they insured against persecution by 
thoughtless boys and hunters, but they are shielded to a large 
extent from attack by their natural foes. 
Birds can, with little difficulty, find protection from their 
enemies, but finding food is another problem. So, if you want 
the robins and the warblers, the wrens and the bluebirds around 
your grounds and garden, spread their dining table with the 
berries and fruits they like. Your grateful guests will be with 
you from early spring to late fall, and some will defy old King 
Winter to partake of your bounty. 
A MONG all our native berry-bearing shrubs the fruit of the 
. Red Elder (Sambucus pubens) stands first on the menu 
card of birddom. This is an extremely ornamental red- 
berried shrub, and should be grown freely around orchards, 
along fences, and as a border to country roads. The flowers 
come in early spring, and are followed by great clusters of scar¬ 
let berries, which attract robins, bluebirds, phoebes, woodpeckers, 
and more than a hundred other species. 
No less important is the Bird or Pin Cherry (Prunus Penn¬ 
sylvania), which is the smallest of the native Cherries. The 
brilliant red fruit literally covers the branches, and is eagerly 
sought for by birds, and boys, too, for the fruit is palatable, 
though rather tart. The juice makes a fine jelly, and adds a 
pleasant tang when used with most of our domestic fruits. 
The fruit of the wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) will bring 
the large birds—robins, cedar wax-wings, grackles, an d others— 
around your place, and many times they seem to forsake all 
other fruits for the fun of pecking at the black cherries. The 
tree makes a stately specimen, valuable for shade and orna¬ 
ment, and is worthy of a place in the orchard, the garden, and 
along the roadways. 
To complete this trio of Cherries comes Prunus virginiana 
or Choke Cherry, which is usually considered a shrub although 
it may grow 25 feet or more in height. The flowers are in 
racemes, like long white brushes, and are decidedly dainty. The 
fruit, about the size of a pea. may be red or amber-colored. 
Birds will eat the fruit, but small boys fight shy on account of 
the puckery after-effect. Another form of this Cherry assumes 
a drooping habit, and a third is dwarf in habit. All are useful 
in ornamental groups. 
The Garden Magazine, September, 1923 
Among shrubs the Viburnums cannot be overestimated. The 
Japanese Bush Cranberry is possibly a little more unusual than 
the familiar High Bush Cranberry (V. opulus). Both grow 
from 8 to io feet high, bearing fiat-topped clusters of pure white 
flowers in late spring and early summer. Bright scarlet berries 
in great clusters remain nearly all winter. Viburnum pubescens 
follows the general appearance of the other varieties, but the 
berries are black. The birds, however, seem to be color-blind, 
and consider one as good as the other. 
N EITHER do the birds ask whether a tree comes from Eng¬ 
land or India, from Africa or Australia. “Will it feed us?” 
is the only question—and they answer it themselves. So your 
“ bird garden’ ’ can have American and European Mountain Ash 
(Sorbus americana and S. Aucuparia) growing side by side. For 
variety you might have a specimen of the dwarf native Mountain 
Ash (S. sambucifolia). All three have brilliant scarlet berries 
that remain nearly all winter—or would if the birds let them 
alone. 
A hedge of Japanese Barberry (Berberis Thunbergi) will serve 
at least two purposes; first, to keep out stray cats and dogs, 
and if it does this effectively it justifies its existence. But the 
second count to its credit is fully as important—the sparkling 
berries are as tempting to the birds as a red apple to a healthy 
boy—and the one disappears as quickly as the other. 
A thicket of Black Alder (Ilex verticillata) or Winterberry 
has a fascination in both summer and winter. When the nesting 
season is on, you may find the swaying homes of some of the small 
birds tucked away in an obscure corner. Then from September 
to April the berries are hung out, inviting to lunch the belated 
Southern traveler and the first hardy Northern explorer. If 
you watch closely after the berries form, you will see catbirds, 
cedar wax-wings, brown thrashers, bluebirds, robins, and maybe 
some of the game birds, respond to the invitation. 
Junipers, or Red Cedars, are friendly trees around the grounds 
the whole year—you will like them for themselves; but when 
the grosbeak, the finch, starling, warbler, and a flicker or two, 
slip in and out of its branches, you will like the Juniper for other 
reasons. 
Then if you think the menu is not sufficiently various you 
can have Dogwood, Snowberry, Elderberry, Huckleberry, wild 
Grape, Sassafras, Bayberry—or a dozen more equally good 
shrubs; not only good for the birds, but adding to the land¬ 
scape beauty of your home grounds. All of these are used in 
some of the finest examples of the landscape man’s art, but here 
the thought has been to give a hint of the most useful shrubs 
for the bird sanctuary. 
To have birds in greater numbers, to bring them closer to our 
homes, to retain many that would otherwise migrate, it is essen¬ 
tial not only to plant berry-bearing trees and shrubs for the win¬ 
ter food supply but to provide shade and shelter at nesting time. 
Nowadays there are various types of bird houses made by 
specialists to please the varying tastes of the feathered families, 
as well as feeding trays and other devices to lure them into do¬ 
mestic satisfaction within the comparatively limited confines of 
our gardens. 
TAKE (OTE, Q.A REDEN NEIGHBORS, IN VILLAQE , TOWN , WIND f/TT 
A Pri{eoj Fifty Dollars ($50) is offered by The Garden Magazine for the best article illustrated with adequate photographs on what 
has been accomplished in some one place as a result of the stimulus of National Garden IVeek. This may be an account of a community 
activity, some individual effort, a public planting, a personal garden, etc. Manuscripts to be submitted any time up to October first, 192 3 
