Methods of Attracting Birds (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV DRINKING- AND BATHING-FOUNTAINS Need of Water. ? Water in large quantities is a necessity for bird life. Especially during hot weather do the birds require a large and constant supply, at a time when frequently the small pools or other common sources of supply may be entirely dry. In winter, snow may serve as a substitute; and in summer, dew and juicy food may furnish some of the necessary water; but these at best only partially provide the needed supply, which can be adequately furnished only by pools or streams, and more especially when the birds use the water for bathing as well as drinking. During the dry part of the summer birds must often find it difficult to secure sufficient water, and this must be particularly true of young birds just learning to fly and unable to go on long journeys in search of water. To just what extent this is a factor in the mortality of birds, it is impossible to say, but that at times it may be a contributing factor there can be no doubt. The unusual places to which the birds have beenobserved to come for water indicate the straits to which they are at times driven. In case one has a brook or pond near, there will not exist the need of furnishing drinking- fountains to save the birds from thirst; but these natural drinking-places are often surrounded with shrubs or tall grasses which furnish a lurking-place for cats, so that a fountain may be so arranged as to be better protected from the birds' enemies, and this will furnish opportunity for watching more closely the birds that come to it. Essentials of Fountains. ? The two essentials to be considered in providing fountains are the depth of water and the location of the fountain. The water should be very shallow. In most ornamental fountains the water is deep, and the si...