Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-13
WoRLbs RECORD FOR
 BIRD POPULATION
Held by Farm of Dr. Grosvenor Near
 Bethesda, Maryland.
6speeial to The Bulletin.l )

Washington, D. C., June 12-The 1 worlds record for density or bird pop ulation is held by farm within ten miles of the national capital near Bethesda, Maryland It is owned by Mir. Gipoer H. Grosvenor the Director and Editor of the National Geographic Society.
 In 1913 Mir. Grosvenor bought a farm of one hundred acres, half in forest and half in field, about four miles from the District of Columbia, moving there early in the spring.
 Being interested in the work of the Audubon Societies, he determined to see what he and his family could do to get birds around the home He had Chief of the U. s. Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, be- came interested and delegated Dr. Wells W. Cooke to visit the Grosvenor farm.
 Dr. Cooke found so many birds there that he suggested a census of those living o nan acre or two adjacent to the house, as he though the count would establish a worlds record. Up to that time the record was held by family at Chevy Chase, Maryland. who had attracted thirteen pairs of birds to half an acre.
 The prospect of establishing a worlds record was so inviting to the Grosvenor family that they took a census of the nesting birds on an acre adjoining their house and barns, with the result that they found fifty nine pairs of birds with young or eggs in the nest on that acre, the highest number of land birds inhabiting one | acre that has yet been reported to the Department of Agriculture or to any Audubon Society. 4 similar census was made of a second acre, and 1t was found that this acre had thirty three pairs of nesting birds.
 In an article contributed to Bird Lore" the bi-fnonthly organ of the Audubon Societies of the United ing story of the birds which have come | to dwell with them at Wild Acres, ? as his farm is named.
 | Wild, Acres is a typical Maryland | farm, with an old-fashioned farmhouse surrounded by an apple and pear or cfard, with vegetable garden, hedges and open fields. Surrounding the fields I is a, tract of fifty acres in woods, with a beautiful stream and several springs
 scattered around in both the fields | and the woods.
 The bird census taken in the week of June 21st, 1915, showed that on
 the first acre they had one pair o1
 1fckers, one pair of blackbirds, one o1 yellow warblers, two of orchard or1-
 oles. two of catbirds one of sone I LHO O1 S1l1PPAI6 CkyAAO O0S one of phoebes, fourteen of house
 wrens, seven of robins, one of king
 birds, and twenty-six of martins.
 On the second acre there were one pair each of song sparrows, Caro- lima wrens, fickers, Maryland yellow ltB1roats, brown thrashers, catabirds
 chipping sparroE7s. screech owls ant
 towhees. There were also eighfeeI pairs of martins, four of house wreni
 and two of robins.
 T attribute our success primarily, t writes MT. Grosvenor, Ito choosing tn
 English sparrows and driving the cat : away, to putting up many boxes, b | keeping fresh water handy at all time f etc We do everything we can for tn 8 Il comfort of our birds; for instance, " ? | put on twigs little pieces of the oile. : paper that our butter was wrappei Q 1 in and we left mud in convenien 7 places for the martins. The cafbird used the oiled paper for their nests a lin fact they used all kinds of scraps 8 Imagine the delight of the family ! when, on examining one Of the cat : birds nests in the autumn, we foun one of the children's hair-r1bbons an q also piece of an old dress of th q babyi
 we had read a great deal aboT s how tame birds become when they ar d protected but we were constant s l amazed at the quicl<ness with wh4c
 they perceived the care taken of then