156 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March 



shortly began nest building in one of the apartments under the eave of 

 the roof. Before the nest was completed another pair had taken an 

 apartment under the eave on the opposite side of the house, which 

 convinces me that eaves are desirable, therefore I intend to put hoods 

 or some sort of protection above all the entrance holes. 



Before the martin nests were complete a pair of wrens put in an 

 appearance, clinging to the martin house hole and at every opportunity 

 alighting on the house and peering in. The martins were very much 

 annoyed and made ferocious swoops at the wrens, who darted, almost 

 faster than the human eye could follow, behind the board fence. 



I immediately built a box 5 in. x 5 in. x 12 in. deep with an 

 entrance slightly larger than a silver quarter, under the entrance a 

 landing platform and above it the overhanging eave of the sloping 

 roof. This box was placed on a pole about five feet below the martin 

 house. In half an hour the wrens were happily singing as they built 

 their nest. 



I wonder if all wrens are as intelligent as mine! A twig four or 

 five inches long was frequently brought to the platform and one end 

 shoved through the entrance hole, then the wren passed in drawing the 

 twig with him. The martins, with the same length twig grasped in the 

 centre, would attempt to pass straight through their two-inch entrance 

 hole. If after several strenuous efforts the twig or straw did not break 

 or bend it was dropped to the ground. Consequently the martins' nests 

 were made chiefly of short or bendable material, while the wrens' nest 

 were of surprisingly heavy twigs. 



The swallows kept to their own premises, but not infrequently the 

 curiosity of one of the martins probably a female necessitated a 

 visit to the swallow home, where alighting on the front porch and 

 putting her head through the entrance she was apparently given a 

 peck in the face, as her head would be quickly withdrawn in time to 

 see father swallow swooping down from a nearby telephone wire. Then 

 both birds would rise in the air and for half a minute or so face each 

 other apparently sitting on their tails and, with fluttering wings, say 

 unprintable things; then the martin would fly home and the swallow 

 back to his wire. 



When the babies arrived the parent swallows were constantly busy 

 capturing flying insects, while the parent wrens hunted the flower beds 

 and bushes for hairless caterpillars. 



The tree swallows were quiet birds and at no time did I see the 

 young, although I frequently heard them in their nest box. Evidently 

 they do not return to their nesting site after once leaving it. The 

 martins were quite different, adhering to the old saying "the more the 

 merrier," as the frequent appearance of visitors* from Wellington 

 Street eaves or bird houses in Ottawa South was the signal for a great 

 chattering, melodious martin calls and circling in the air, and the 



