144 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



new crop, has proved a marked success. 

 We have not attempted to cure it for 

 hay, but as a summer food for cattle 

 we have found it most valuable. Al- 

 ready this summer we have cut two 

 crops, and at this writing" have started 

 upon a third. If the weather should 

 be favorable we shall take off a fourth 



crop. The total yield for each year 

 has been somewhat over twenty tons 

 per acre. 



In these days of high-priced, yet in- 

 efficient farm labor, it is necessary to 

 have an equipment of modern machin- 

 ery, which adds to the joys of farm life 

 by lessening its drudgery. 



Bird Studies on the Waveny Farm. 



BY HAROLD E. JONES, TAEMADGE HILL, 

 CONNECTICUT. 



"The sun is bright, — the air is clear; 



The darting swallows soar and sing, 

 And from the stately elms I hear 



The bluebird prophesying spring." 



Like many other nature verses, this 

 stanza by Longfellow is somewhat in- 

 accurate, for we are not apt to hear 

 "the darting swallows soar and sing" 

 until the vernal season has really ar- 

 rived. And in this locality, at least, 

 the bluebird cannot be regarded as a 

 true prophet. He is with us the year 

 'round, and oftentimes begins singing 

 in early February, long before winter's 

 icy grip is permanently shaken. De- 

 spite this unreliability as a harbinger, 

 the bluebird is a universal favorite 

 among country people. With the beau- 

 ty of a tanager, the gentleness of a 

 thrush, and the industry of a wood- 

 pecker, he seems a veritable paragon, 

 and the New England farmstead which 

 lacks his graceful presence is quite in- 

 complete. 



Ingersoll states that out of seven 

 nesting's not more than one brood of 

 birds can usually be raised to maturity. 

 Birdland tragedies are the frequent 

 cause of grief among roaming natural- 

 ists. Last May and June, when I had 

 dozens of different nests on my list, 

 some fresh mishap had to be recorded 



almost daily. The brown thrasher's 

 twig lattice was emptied by some wan- 

 dering skunk or weasel ; a villainous 

 cat found the redwing nest; crows 

 gorged themselves on choice young 

 robins ; rainstorms dashed to earth the 

 chippies' hopes — and so I might con- 

 tinue down the black catalogue of avian 

 misfortune. On account of these mani- 

 fold enemies, most species of birds find 

 it quite impossible to increase. By 

 using a shotgun we may eliminate some 

 of the enemies in any vicinity, but the 

 augmentation in local bird life cannot 

 be immediately noticed, — except in cer- 

 tain cases which I shall now define. 

 There are many mysteries of evolu- 

 tion still unsolved. Why the bluebird 

 should prefer to nest in hollow limbs, 

 while all his near relatives of the thrush 

 tribe build open nests, is a problem 

 quite equal to the Sphinx's riddle. But 

 this peculiarity is a fortunate one, since 

 we may utilize it for our own benefit : 

 By erecting nest-boxes a farmer may in- 

 crease the number of bluebirds in his 

 vicinity several hundred per-cent. This 

 is possible because a properly construc- 

 ted box will exclude all those enemies 

 to which the birds of open nests are 

 subject. At least six out of seven 

 young bluebirds hatched in such boxes 

 will live to maturity, while, as we have 

 seen, the ratio is only one out of seven 

 with other birds. 



