Drinking and Bathing-Fountains

Fountains on Lawn. - In the illustration is shown the drinking-fountain on the lawn of Mr. C. D. Brown, of Rutherford, N. J. Mr. Brown writes of it: " All of the vegetation is contained in a portable wooden box six inches deep, and consists of hardy marsh perennials secured from the Hackensack Meadows. In spring the robins sometimes steal the mud for their nests so fast that the roots of the cat-tail, marsh-mallows, iris, foxtails, etc., are often exposed." Of a similar one on his own place, Mr. Chapman says, in " Bird-Lore," that it met with the approval of most of the birds in the vicinity of his house and was patronized even by screech-owls. " It is made of bricks and cement, and in cross-section resembles the appended diagram.

"Boards may be used to form partitions, which should be filled with earth. The plants introduced were sagittaria, iris, yellow pond-lily, wild rice, duckweed, and water-hyacinth. The pond is filled with a hose and is replenished as evaporation requires."

A bird-bath on the grounds of Mrs. W. M. R. French, of Beverly Hills, Illinois, is described as follows by Mr. Robert W. Hegner in " Bird-Lore ": " A shallow hole was dug, two feet wide, three feet long, and eight inches deep. This was lined with small cobblestones laid in cement. The end away from the water-tap was made lower than the upper end, and the superfluous water ran down a slight incline to the roots of a large oak tree. Every day throughout the summer a swift stream of water was turned on from the garden-hose, which effectually cleaned the tub and left a clear, cool supply for thirsty birds. Blue jays, catbirds, bluebirds, robins, and wrens at once took possession, and not only were visitors but built their nests in the trees and bushes about the yard."

A large garden urn which stood on Mrs. French's lawn also served as a bathing- and feeding-place for birds.

The following description of a bird-bath is furnished by Orpheus M. Schantz of Illinois:-

" I dug a circular hole 20 inches deep by 33 inches in diameter in a corner of the lawn. I filled the hole to within about 8 inches of the top with cinders; next I put in a couple of inches of coarse sand and cement, and on top of that another layer of fine sand and cement, which, in the absence of a trowel, I smoothed out with my hands. The finished bath is about 33 inches across, with a rim about 2 inches wide and about one inch below the level of the surrounding sod.

" When the bath is filled, the water in the centre is about three inches deep and slopes gradually to the rim."