May, i p i 6 
25 
I 
For the colonizing Purple 
Martins a nesting house with 
many compartments is used 
Winter in Henry Ford’s bird 
sanctuary. The gun is for ma¬ 
rauding cats and other vermin 
Pine Grosbeaks at a window feeding box in Meriden, “the 
Bird Village.” The photograph was taken from inside 
the room and illustrates one of the tangible results of 
the Bird Club Movement 
Even the beneficial little 
Screech Owl will avail him¬ 
self of a convenient nest-box 
Economically and esthetically 
valuable, these young House 
Wrens are now ready to fly 
bird dub movement, and incidentally to 
enter a fairyland as wonderful and 
beautiful as that of Hans Anderson or 
the Brothers Grimm. 
Just think of having wild birds so 
unafraid that they will sit at the table 
and take breakfast with you; of having 
them gather about you as you sit on the 
ground in your garden or orchard, 
alighting upon your hands, your head 
or your shoulders. Think of having 
birds accompany you on your walks in 
the woods and pastures, alighting on 
your camera when you stop to take a 
photograph, and at noon hopping onto 
your knee to share your lunch with you. 
What would you not give to be on such 
friendly terms with a wild song bird as 
to be able to stroke her as she sat upon 
her nest or pick her up as she perched 
on the edge of it? 
Mrs. Baynes and I have had every 
one of these experiences and many 
others, some of them a hundred times 
over. And the best of it is there is no 
mystery about it; the reader himself or 
anyone else can do the same things if 
he will only adopt a friendly attitude 
towards his feathered neighbors, invite 
them to his home, and offer them in a 
measure at least, the same kind of hospi¬ 
tality which he would extend to his human guests. And as he 
studies their needs he may be surprised to find how much those 
needs resemble his own. The birds require and will appreciate 
a liberal supply of good food and water, a quiet room away 
from dangers and annoyances, with shade and fruit trees and 
shrubberv nearby, and a pool of clear water in which to splash 
and refresh themselves in the hot 
weather. Give them these things and 
they will become your intimate friends; 
this is not a theory, but a fact. 
Where the Movement Started 
In the Village of Meriden, N. H., 
where almost everyone practices hos¬ 
pitality of this kind, twenty-three dif¬ 
ferent species come to the window-sills 
for food, and seven species have come 
to the hands and shoulders of their 
hosts and hostesses. I have seen hun¬ 
dreds of birds feeding at once in front 
of one doorstep in the winter, and hun¬ 
dreds more at the next door down the 
street. In a single bird bath I have seen 
twenty-five birds of several different 
species, all bathing at once, while many 
more sat in the bushes nearby awaiting 
their turn. Last spring I had four 
Berlepsch nest boxes on my house and 
barn. Two were occupied by Blue¬ 
birds, one by Tree Swallows and one 
by Chickadees. One of the Chicka¬ 
dees was a very old friend, and 
would not only alight upon our hands, 
but would allow us to stroke her and 
pick her up. None of these birds 
required any law to protect them. 
If any outsider attempted to injure 
one, there wouldn’t be any law strong enough to protect 
him. 
What a bird club can do to create an active interest in the 
welfare of the local wild birds, the reader would appreciate 
if he were to visit that little New Hampshire village this spring 
and see the many preparations being made to ensure a warm 
The Toledo, Ohio, Boy Scouts 
aided in putting up 3,000 boxes 
in the public parks in one day 
