HOME-MADE BOXES 



These two wren boxes are correctly built, 

 other is made from a chalk box. Th< 

 114 inches. 



One is adorned witli bark, the 



diameter of the openings is 



COMMERCIAL BIRD HOUSES 



One of these is made of roofing paper by the Winthrop Packard Co., 

 of Canton, Mass., and one from rustic cedar bv A. P. Crescent, of 

 Tom's River, N. T. 



The Bird Department 



By a. a. Allen, Ph.D. 

 Assistant Professor of Ornithology, Cornell University 



HOW TO ATTRACT THE SUMMER BIRDS BIRD HOUSES 



THOSE who have been feeding the birds during the 

 winter and have enjoyed the friendhness of chicka- 

 dees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers at their win- 

 dows ; those wlio welcome the return of the birds in the 

 spring and know the mellow call of the bluebird and the 

 bubbling song of the wren; and those who enjoy the 

 knowledge that their property is being guarded against 

 the attacks of insect pests, will all be interested in try- 

 ing to tempt these little wayfarers to the vicinity of their 

 homes. 



The making of bird houses is an old, old story, but like 

 many other classic tales, it will bear retelling. The orig- 

 inal idea was simple enough, but of recent years it has 

 been encumbered by so many suggestions that people 

 hesitate to undertake what really is an easy task. For the 

 more simple the bo.x the more natural will it appear and 

 the more attractive will it be to the birds. 



There are over 50 species of birds in the United States 

 and Canada which utilize holes in trees for nesting, in- 

 cluding many of the most useful. The borer-destroying 

 woodpeckers, the larvae-destroying nuthatches, the egg- 

 destroying chickadees, the mosc|uito-destroying tree swal- 

 lows — all build in holes in trees and may be attracted 

 to nesting boxes. But in these days of scientific forestry 

 when every dead tree is condemned, and every dead 

 branch lopped off by the "tree-doctor." their natural nest- 

 ing sites are rapidly disappearing and their numbers are 

 correspondingly decreasing. Tt is the wise timber owner, 

 therefore, who puts at least one nesting box in fhe place 



146 



of every dead tree which he removes. The chickadees and 

 woodpeckers which are with us in winter and the wrens 

 and bluebirds that return in the spring will move on 

 unless they find plenty of nesting sites. 



Of the fifty or more hole-nesting birds, a comparatively 

 small proportion have learned yet to accept the artificial 

 nesting site, only nine species taking them regularly and 

 nineteen more utilizing them occasionally. It is to be 

 expected, however, that eventually all the species will 

 learn to adapt themselves and perhaps even others will 

 so modify their present nesting habits as to accept artifi- 

 cial structures. This has proved to be the case in the 

 celebrated experiments of Baron Von Berlepsch where 

 out of a thousand nesting boxes placed on his estate, birds 

 have gradually been induced to occupy over 900. 



The species which regularly use nesting boxes are as 

 follows : 



Mouse wren (and all its sub-species), bluebird (eastern 

 and western varieties), chickadee (northern and southern 

 sub-species), purple martin, tree swallow, flicker, violet- 

 green swallow (western), house finch (western), Be- 

 wick's wren, English sparrow and starling. 



The species which occasionally use nesting boxes are as 

 follows : 



White-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches, downy 

 woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, red-headed woodpecker, 

 tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, crested flycatcher, 

 screech owl. saw-whet owl, barn owl, sparrow hawk, 

 wood duck, song sparrow (rarely), and dipper (western). 



