The Bird Study BookPearson, T. Gilbert (Thomas Gilbert)
Science
The Bird Study Book
Pearson, T. Gilbert (Thomas Gilbert)
Birds; Birds -- Conservation
"The assembling of the various springs into a pond, so designed as to
make an island of a place where the Redwings nest.
"Trails to be cut through the brush and the turf grass in a charming
bit of old orchard on the hilltop, to be restored for the benefit of
worm-pulling Robins.
"Several stone basins to be constructed for birdbaths, houses to be put
up of all sorts, from Wren boxes, Von Berlepsch model. Flicker and Owl
boxes, to a Martin hotel; and, lastly, the supplementing of the natural
growth by planting pines, spruces, and hemlocks for windbreaks, and
mountain ashes, mulberries, sweet cherries, flowering shrubs and vines
for berries and Hummingbird honey."
Not only were all these things done, but there has {227} been built and
equipped a small museum of Natural History, unique in its good taste
and usefulness.
_Cemeteries as Bird Sanctuaries._--The interest in the subject of bird
sanctuaries is growing every day; in fact, all America is now planning
new homes for her birds--homes where they may live with unrestricted
freedom, where food and lodging in abundance, and of the best, will be
supplied, where bathing-pools will be at their service, where
blossoming trees will welcome them in the spring and fields of grain in
the fall, quiet places where these privileges will bring to the birds
much joy and contentment. Throughout this country there should be a
concerted effort to convert the cemeteries, the homes of our friends
who have gone away, into sanctuaries for the bird life of this land.
And what isolated spots could be more welcome to the birds than these
places that hold so many sad memories for human beings?
No place in the world ought to speak more forcibly to us of the
Resurrection than the cemeteries of our land. In them we should hear
inspiring bird songs, {228} notice the nesting of birds, and the little
ones preparing for their flight into the world. There we should find
beautiful flowers and waving grain, typical of that spiritual harvest
which should be associated in our minds with comfort and peace.
_A Birdless Cemetery._--I visited, not long ago, one of the old-time
cemeteries, the pride of a neighbouring city. It was indeed a place of
beauty to the eye; but to my mind there is always something flat and
insipid about a landscape lacking the music of singing birds.
Therefore I looked and listened for my feathered friends. Some English
Sparrows flew up from the drive, and I heard the rusty hinge-like notes
of a small company of Purple Crackles that were nesting, I suspected,
in the pine trees down the slope, but of really cheerful bird life
there appeared to be none in this artificially beautified, forty-acre
enclosure. There is no reason to suppose that, under normal
conditions, birds would shun a cemetery any more than does the
traditional graveyard rabbit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account