INSECT-EATING BIEDS. 



205 



thus inducing them to settle on our estates. There is no rea- 

 son why every one who has a half-acre of land should not have 

 two or three pairs of birds nesting thereon. Perhaps many do 

 not realize what simple 

 accommodations swal- 

 lows, bluebirds, wrens 

 and other birds are ea- 

 ger to avail themselves 



of. Simple and inex- 

 pensive arrangements 

 are just as satisfactory 

 to them as the most 

 elegant and costly or- 

 namental houses, and Fig. 22.-Ptarmigan8. 



no one need be prevented by the fear of expense from furnishing 

 dwelling-places, rent free, to these interesting tenants. With 

 a few simple tools and a box or two which any grocer will give 

 you a bird-house may be made of almost any size or shape 

 desired. Should you wish it highly 

 ornamental, nothing is better than 

 to cover it with rustic-work, which 

 may be done with the aid of a wild 

 grape-vine cut in pieces of the right 

 length and nailed on. Such a bird- 

 house costs little or nothing save 

 the time required to make it, and 

 this slight expense will be amply 

 repaid by the satisfaction of doing 

 a good deed. 



There are many simple contriv- 

 ances which may be prepared and 

 put up in five minutes and will serve 



Fig. 23. — Snowj- Heron. Garzetta can- 



the birds as well as anything else. didissima. (Graiiatores.) 



At the opening of the present season we put up four tin-cans, 

 such as are used for canning tomatoes, having first filed a 

 small hole in the lower end to prevent the collection of water. 

 Three of the four were immediately occupied by bluebirds. 

 One pair laid five eggs, four of which hatched and the young 

 grew to maturity. The other two pairs each had two broods, 

 four eggs to each brood, and all hatched, but three of the 



