New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-08-28

Young wren in one OF Mr.. Chapnan's bird boxes
OF the soft fruit Along the hedge is a row Of
sumachs. whose red seeds the birds eat in the
winter when other food is scarce Near by is
q small Parkman's crahapple tree, set out for
the winter birds The fruit clings all winter.
Naturally. the numerous trees well the
bountiful supply of food, are an incentive TO thu
birds to build nests The attractiveness of the
place IN this respect is increased by the exec
ton Of number of nesting places Mr.. Chap
man. when he set about putting these up, did
not stick lot OF little bird houses with Swiss
gables on posts about the lawn and the barn.
Instead he gathered a number of knots with
hollow centres These he fitted on the truul5
Of trees at a convenient height for personal ir-
spection and Tor photosraphing. Wire used
to attach them They were put up skiIfut'y
that in some cases one would be led to suppose
them a part OF the tree-the stump of = limb
which had been Topped of and partly healed
over For the birds which spend their winters
| in the North. Mr.. Chapman provides a blk
roomy shelter made OF brush and a wig'yam II
! discarded beanpoies.
All OF the modern improvements which any
bird could expect desire have been provided
for this select residential" site. plunge I...l
with running wafer has been constructed i'm th!
centre Of the lawn especially for the occrpsr
.
with a fountain in the centre. Water p.sa.A
such wild rice. sasittaria. iris and cattat.s
add 10 its attractiyeness. The scrce-h owl I'm
the daytime has some of the characteristics ,f IL
lazy lo-fer. According to Mr.. Chapman. ur-h a.,
has been known heretofore as 10 whether IA
eve: bathes not. 1t turns out that he does
use water sometimes, for Mr.. Chapman has s,-p
one which lives in gable Of his house oNet -
study window bathing in his pool
A short time ago the destruction OF an old h1-I
on the place by fire upset the nerves of some 4
the birds, besides destroying q few Of the trees
The barn WAS nearly century old and held 20,
gether by oakeG pins More than one gen n
ton Of boys had turned sornersaults on 10y,
mows and played hide and seek in its d"e-.
hooks On one beam was carved a name ana
the date. 1o26. Like old houses and old resi-
dents. it had its Own individuality. When il MS
burned a robin brooGmS her young in i
neiShboriEs tree. Apparently. The fire did not
scare her for she seen dropping food into
the ugly little mouths Of her ofTsprings shortly
after the fire WAS out. A pair of humminS birds
more easily Disconnected They had nest
about the size of golf ball on the upper side
of a limb in a tree that occupied by the
robin Before the fire there were two eggs in it.
These and the birds disappeared soon afterward.
Whether the eggs became young humming birds.
were carried away by the parents or stoirI by
animals after the birds abandoned their nest is
not known.
There are persons who, owing to lack of sym
pathy their nerves. would not enjoy living at
Mr., Chapman's home. They not the kind OF
persons who rise early III the cool of the day to
hear the matin song of the birds They are the
kind who when the uproar arOuses them
AID consign the creatures to all sorts of bad
places they turn over on their pillows 1nG
endeavor to sleep again. They would symSa
thize with 4 neighbor of Mr.. Chapman. The cry
of the guinea fowl is particularly attractive to
MI Cha pman, because il is cry from the WILD,
the guinea hen being the only dOneSticated fowl
which has lost nothing of its original speech A
guinea hen of his few days was uttering the
persistent and nsistent cry of its kind which
sounds as if the vocal cords were rusty and
needed ong. II wish one would wiring
that guinea birds neck" remarked the neighbor
with emphasis.