Evening star., 1946-12-30
This andThat
By Charles E. TraceUell.
FALLS CHURCH, VA.

Dear Sir:
I'VE have been living in this section
something more than a year, ard are
constant readers of your column.
we were attracted a few DAYS ago
by your mention of the Carolina wren
We have a pair Cor at least two
BIRDS, who have been with us some two
weeks--and look as though they are
contented-and may stay all winter
We hope SO.
They eat suet-there is no possible
doubt about that-they constantly visit
a station where we have nothing but
suet. 1t Is patronized by the downy
woodpeckers, the chickadees. the
nuthatches and occasionally few
others.
I'VE have eight or ten cardinals who
stay all tine time, mockingbird who
winters here, and the titmice are numer-
Gus. We have four or five varieties
of sparrows, oovey of quail, many
jays. doves and hawks and owls for
good measure.
The purple finches are beginning
to arrive. We saw one about five days
ago, and one was at the feeding station
this morning. We had bIuebirds until
about two weeks ago.
r
I'VE have more birds than any other
place hereabouts, We think It is.
doubtless, because we not only feed
them but have good arrangement for
providing fresh water all the time.
I'VE put IL, bird bath in the hillside
some 30 feet from our breakfast room
window, and piped water to it through
a quarter-inch copper pipe.
1.-The birds almost line up for bathing
as we'll as drinking Even the quail
have come to it for drinking several
times.
This winter I have put in an auto
matte electric poultry water warmer.
: When the water gets so degrees or
warmer it automatically stops. BY plug
ging in waterproof cord in a base
ment socket and submerging the
heating element in the water in the
bath, ice is prevented at all times.
Apparently the fame of the ice-free
watering place has spread among ami
maldom, as even neighbor dogs 1--WE
have neither dogs nor CATS come for
a drink sometimes. The gray squirrels
and chipmunks are regular customers
Sincerely yours, L. c. b."
x X X X
Persons electrically minded can do
no better for the birds than to keep
them supplied with slightly warmed
water throughout the winter
There is here every chance for inge-
nuity, and the constructive work is
enjoyed not only by the doer, but even
more by the wildlife.
Cold weather freezes small drinking
places, but even cold winds dry them
up.
Since bird watering places are best
made no more than two inches deep,
they are easily depleted.
A gang of starlings or blue jays can
flop all the water out of such a bath
in few minutes.
Birds love their baths, even in the
coldest weather.
Certainly the garden with constant
supply of drinking and bathing water
will be visited by more birds than
places without such advantages.
Next to food, there is nothing a
wintering bird likes more.
The cheapest way to supply this, Of
course, is to carry it out to them in
the afternoon.
Except ON the coldest days of winter,
even shallow baths and pans will stay
unfrozen from l to 3 pm.
Put such water in the sunshine, if
there is any, and not too close to the
feeding station.
It is good thing to free baths from
ice early in the morning
This system of water supply requires
constant attention, but it is labor we'll
spent and enables those who are not
electrically minded to keep their bird
friends happy and contented.