354 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The Bird Lover's Story 



FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS JOSEPH H. DODSON, 

 OF CHICAGO AND EVANSTON, ILL., HAS 

 BEEN BUILDING HOUSES FOR BIRDS. HE 

 BUILDS AN ENGLISH SPARROW TRAP. 



A Seventeen years ago 



Joseph H. Dodson, a 

 business man of Chica- 

 & go, impelled by his love 

 of our native birds, 

 began to build houses 

 for them on his grounds. 

 He had made a study of 

 birds as a boy. He felt that the little 

 fellows should be encouraged to come 

 back to us; that we should do some- 

 thing for them to atone for our mistake 

 in allowing the sparrow to monopolize 

 our gardens and our generous scraps of 

 food. 



"My first bird house," said Mr. Dod- 

 son, when asked to give an account of 

 his experience, "was built to attract the 

 purple martins. This was erected at 

 my place on Kenmore avenue, Chicago, 

 which is in the heart of a district called 

 Tlatville.' I had never seen martins 

 in Chicago, but as a boy I had won 

 them to a little house I built in the 

 country. 



"Two days after the new house went 

 up in Flatville two martins came 

 around and investigated it. Very 

 eagerly I watched them. They flew 

 about the house all day, but evidently I 

 had not met their requirements, for 

 they left and never returned. Some- 

 thing about the house made them 

 timid. Several days later three more 

 martins came, circled about and finally 

 went into the house. They also be- 

 trayed evidence of fear, and they flew 

 away. I climbed up to the house and 

 tried to guess what it was that excited 

 the birds' distrust, but I could not. 

 Next day two more martins came and 

 perched on the roof. English sparrows 

 drove them away; the sparrows found 



PURPLE MAR- 

 TIN HOUSE. 



the house attractive and occupied it. 

 No more martins that year. 



WINNING THE PURPLE MARTIN. 



"During the next winter I designed 

 a house which the birds could enter 

 on either side and go straight through. 

 When the first martins came I saw that 

 I had hit upon the 

 right plan. They 

 took up a lease. 

 When sparrows pur- 

 sued them they dove 

 into the house and 

 immediately came 

 out on the other side. 

 The sparrow waited 

 at the front door 

 with the patience of 

 stupidity. It was amusing to watch 

 the little pirate's face. 



"I won the martins by this house. 

 One thing confirmed my belief in the 

 fact that it was the only kind of a house 

 they would accept — in every case the 

 birds settled first in the attic, and 

 gradually gathering confidence, took 

 possession of the lower floors. That 

 year I built several houses for friends 

 and every one was successful. 



"The martins, you know, like to live 

 together, as many as thirty, or even 

 fort}", occupying one house. When I 

 sold my place on Kenmore avenue I 

 left a colony of yy purple martins, and 

 in my opinion they added to the value 

 of the property. 



"Since then my martin houses have 

 been erected in many sections __in New- 

 York, San Francisco, Chicago, Mar- 

 quette, Miami, Isle of Pines, Daytona, 

 Winnipeg, etc. — and I have yet to hear 

 of a house that failed to win martins as 

 regular tenants. 



"I know of people who have put up 

 martin houses which cost as much as 

 $100 and then had to discard them for 

 one of my martin houses in order to 

 secure a colony of birds. 



