NESTING HOUSES FOE BIRDS 



71 



to correlate this with the work in manual training, the children 

 making their houses at home. When the bird houses are oc- 

 cupied, suggestions are given to direct the children in their ob- 

 servations, which are frequently reported to the school. 



The chief difficulty encountered is the English sparrow, 

 which drives the other birds away. For several years experi- 

 ments were tried with moving bird houses, but it was found that 



A USEFUL CITIZEN 



these were used just as freely by the sparrows as by the other 

 birds. The children are now advised to make a majority of 

 their boxes with small entrance holes for the house wren; and 

 if houses are put out for the bluebird, to keep the hole covered 

 until the bluebirds return in the spring, and to provide the house 

 with a movable cover so that the eggs of the sparrow may be 

 taken out as fast as laid. ( )ccasionally a robin or a starling is 

 reported as using the houses, if large enough. A summary of 

 the results for the last three years is given in the following 

 table: 



Per cent Occupied 

 By By By Alto- 

 wren bluebird Eng. spar, gether 

 32 1(> 16 4ti 

 17 9 8 34 

 28 14 14 56 



Less success has attended the feeding of winter birds, chief- 

 ly on account of that omnipresent pest, the English sparrow. 



Fewer experiments have been tried here in Passaic with 



