Norwich bulletin., 1921-06-21
CHILD TRAINING AT HOME
MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE BIRDS
By s. Louise Patteson. Lecturer and Au-

By S. Louise Patteson, Lecturer and An
 thor of How to Have Bird Neighbors.
 One day last spring little girl asked me if 1t were true that robins liked to eat other things than worms. I replied that robins would eat) fruit when they were thirsty if they could find no water.
 ''Oh just when they're thirsty" she ex claimed in a tone of surprise. ..Then I had better give them basin of water. because father gets terribly provoked at the robins when he sees them in our cherry tree or in the strawberry patch" told her that in the strawberry patch robins were much more likely to hunt the erubs and cutworms that injure thA roots of the vines than to eat the straw berries, but that they did like cherries asked her if she would like to make friends with the birds and fix a place in her garden where they could drink when | they were thirsty or bathe and splash 1 about in warm weather She was de 1 lighted with the idea of making some thing useful and wanted to know how to 1 build bird bath. I gladly promised to | help her make one and accordingly I | went to her home one morning soon after 1 our conversation. Together we gathered several baskets full of small stones from
 a vacant lot near her home, then we se- | lected spot in an open space in her SdLueA where we set up pyramid about three feet high. After we had finished
 it we filled big flower pot saucer with water and placed it on top of the pyra- i mid
 When the warm weather came the birds
 used this bath so much that the water had to be changed several times a day | But the pleasure of watching the differ
 ent birds that came to the garden to
 quench their thirst and splash about in
 the cool water more than compensated
 for the slight trouble of filling the bath i The other members of the ehild's family became <as much interested in their feath.
 cry friends as the little mason who had
 built the bath and the practical father observed with satisfaction that his fruit
 trees were less attractive to the birds.
 Some of the other children in tn. neighborhood became anxious to befriend
 the birds and one of the best results c,
 their new interest was that the small
 boys were less tempted to rob nests fo,
 the sake of collecting eggs which were
 perfectly useless to them, and they be-
 came more interested to care for tho
 mother birds in the nesting season an5
 to protect their young, for all the chiI
 dren had become anxious to have a,
 many bird neighbors as possible frequen
 their gardens.
 One of the small boys was an onl, l child whose hobby had been the collect
 ing of minerals and quartz He decided to make practical use of his mos treasured possession, four hexagona blocks which had been brought to hin from the Giants Causeway. With hi fathers help he piled these heavy block , of basalt one on top of another an, made a perfect column about two and . half feet high. On ~e2p of it he kept large brown flower pot saucer filled witI water; thus the use of what had been souvenir of questionable worth helped t
 make a refreshing bath for the birds an, ; added a real ornament to his mother garden. And what is more important. hi parents were pleased to observe that tn child's old desire to collect and posses mineral specimens was becoming secon dary to an active, sympathetic interest ii the beautiful little living creatures tha enjoyed coming to the garden and deep