January, 1919] 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



123 



then get in the door can be closed and the entrapped 

 occupants destroyed. It is said that sparrows so 

 caught can be released again after a period of 

 confinement and that the house is a trap to them 

 thereafter, and their fear of it will be communi- 

 cated to their companions. Though this may be 

 true, for it is not out of keeping with the intelli- 

 gence of our rowdy sparrows, who at times show 

 an almost uncanny ability to take care of them- 

 selves, I will not personally vouch for it. A dead 

 sparrow makes no nests, of that I am assured and 

 I proceed accordingly. Where it can be used, a 

 .22 rifle with shot cartridges is the most satisfactory 

 sparrow eradicator. Its range is short and its fine 

 shot harmless at very limited distances. In the 

 hands of a man of ordinary intelligence it is to be 

 highly recommended. Sparrows, however, soon 

 grow very wary, precipitately retreating at sight of 

 a man with a gun in the distance, only to return 

 to hurl derision, from the bird house peak or 

 entrance, at their baffled enemy. In such a case a 

 set gun discharged from ambush is very effective. 

 A couple of stakes driven into the ground within 

 range of the perch usually occupied, nails for barrel 

 and trigger-guard from which to hang the gun aimed 

 at the spot, and a long string to the trigger passing 

 through screweyes to an ambush, form an engine 

 of destruction that will effectively discourage the 

 wariest and most persistent of sparrows. It is of 

 proved effectiveness against that last pair that con- 

 tinue to baffle more open methods. 



If fortune smiles Martins may come the first 

 spring, but if she is fickle it may not be until the 

 second or even the third season. It was the third season 

 before the writer got Martins in his house and then 

 only a single pair came. What appeared to be a 

 lonely female arrived first. The place seemed to 

 appeal to her and she tried to induce friends to come 

 with her. She would sit on the gable end and call 

 vainly to them. Then, somehow, she succeeded in 

 bringing a committee of investigation back with her. 

 They swarmed all over the house, into all rooms, 

 talking and criticizing and making comparisons. I 

 gathered that one did not like the plumbing, some 

 objected to the decorations, and others to the view, 

 in fact none seemed satisfied enough to move in and 

 after emphatic expressions of opinion all left ; the 

 single would-be tenant loudly protesting and vocifer- 

 ously calling them back. When she saw that they 

 were actually deserting her off she flew after them 

 and eventually brought them back for a fruitless re- 

 consideration. Later she was joined by a mate 

 a juvenile or last year's male similar to herself in 

 plumage and they settled down to home-making 

 by themselves. Through the brooding season 

 friends from other colonies came and visited and it 



was no uncommon sight to see ten or a dozen 

 Martins taking an active and personal interest in the 

 growing family, and when the young came out 

 sometimes as many as twenty birds circled about the 

 house. The next spring five or six pairs were in 

 possession and the colony's welfare was established 

 and has increased until, last summer, about twelve 

 compartments were occupied. 



As a rule, except where neighbouring colonies are 

 broken up and made homeless, newly erected houses 

 are filled by the overflow from neighbouring ones. 

 Martins are conservative and probably as long as 

 they can find satisfactory quarters in their ancestral 

 mansion are loath to move to strange surroundings. 

 The beginning of new colonies, therefore, depends 

 upon the number of house-hunting birds in the 

 neighbourhood. 



SINGLE ROOM HOUSES. 

 In the following table the birds that can usually 

 be induced to occupy nesting boxes are listed and a 

 schedule is given of their specific requirements. 

 Various ideas as to the forms that may be adopted 

 to fulfil these requirements can be obtained from 

 the accompanying plates. 



2.C ^.xx. Zc^ 5h 3 n-" 

 2.0 57 '-f- o E = o .2 "^ o o g 0) 



'^B ~B.B. KC.S - 1.S E =J:-ii 



Purple Martm __ 6x6 6 1-1 '/z 13/4 14-20 



House Wren ___ 4x4 68 1-6 V% 6-10 



Tree Swallow __ 5x5 6 1-6 V/i 10-15 



Blue Bird 5x5 8 6 l'/2 5-10 



Crested Flycatcher 6.x6 8 10 6 2 8-20 



Chickadee 4x4 810 8 Hs 6-15 



Flicker 7x7 1^18 16 21/2 6-20 



Screech Owl 8x8 12 15 12 3 10-30 



Sparrow Hawk.. 8x8 1215 12 3 10-30 



HOUSE WREN. 



The bird most easily attracted to a bird house is 

 the House Wren. Its tastes are so catholic as to raise 

 the suspicion that it has no taste at all, or that it is 

 so busy with other people's business that it is un- 

 mindful of its own. Anything that has an entrance 

 and is hollow, that it considers safe from cats, and 

 that can be filled with sticks, is taken on occasion- 

 an old boot nailed up, a tin can, or even the pocket 

 in an old coat have been repeatedly used. It is the 

 only bird house that can be easily guarded from 

 sparrows, for a small entrance %-inch in diameter 

 will serve the wren and keep pests out. 



The House Wren is a busy mite and the wonder 

 is that so small a body can contain such an amount 

 of nervous energy. It may contain but it cannot 

 held it long, for every few moments it seems to 



