1032 



Rural School Leaflet 



you read the article in her leaflet so that you will not forget the things 

 that may be done in order to make the birds comfortable and happy. 



IV. This is the time to build a bird house. The following description 

 written by Doctor Allen will give you instructions as to what to do: 



" Some birds, notably wrens and bluebirds, will avail themselves of any- 

 thing in the way of shelter you see fit to put up; while others, such as 



woodpeckers and nuthatches, 

 are more particular and require 

 something more natural in the 

 form of a hollow limb. The 

 chief difficulty will be not in 

 the construction of the boxes 

 nor in attracting the birds, but 

 in keeping out the English 

 sparrows. These interlopers 

 are ever present and ready to 

 begin l)uilding as soon as the 

 box is in place. Needless to 

 say you do not wish these 

 rascals, but prefer our native 

 birds. There is no sure way 

 of keeping them out except by 

 hanging the box on wires so 

 til at it swings freely in the 

 wind. The objection to this 

 box is that it proves less in- 

 viting to our native birds, and 

 so should be attempted only 

 as a last resort. One meets 

 with greatest success with 

 boxes placed on exposed poles 

 Find the bird hoiise. Last spring a pair of blue- ^^ -^^ ^^ggg, with the opening 

 birds lived tn tins house close beside a school in . i- ^ 



Ontario County no larger than IS necessary for 



our native birds, one and a 

 half inch for swallows and bluebirds, smaller for wrens and chickadees. 

 " The box. — No money need be expended on this. Old, weather- 

 beaten timber is more attractive to the birds than smooth, painted boards. 

 The best boxes may be made from sections of a hollow limb, covered above 

 and below by weathered boards, and with a hole drilled near the top of 

 one side. Artificial limbs can be made from bark or by hollowing out 

 solid branches with the bark still attached. Old boxes or new ones made 

 for the purpose are next best. For the smaller birds, such as chickadees, 



