Rural School Leaflet 957 



preferably the former, and toward the top of one side. It should be no 

 larger than the dimensions given above. 



If one is not bothered with sparrows, a perch should be provided 

 beneath the opening; but inasmuch as sparrows do not take so 

 readily to boxes without perches as do other birds, it can be removed 

 if necessary. A perch should be placed in the near vicinity, however, 

 on which the birds may alight before proceeding to the nest. 



A layer of sawdust may be 

 placed in the bottom of the box, 

 but the use of other nesting 

 material is to be avoided. For 

 chickadees and swallows, how- 

 ever, cotton or feathers scattered 

 near may prove attractive if there is no 

 poultry to furnish a supply. 



Placing the box. — Inasmuch as the 

 birds prefer weather-worn 

 materials to bright surfaces, 

 it is well to have the box 

 in position by early spring 

 and thereafter left from 

 year to year. In placing 

 it, three things 

 should be borne in 

 mind : attractive- 

 ness to the birds, 

 comfort, and pro- 

 tection. For the swallows that prefer the 



open, the box should be raised on a slender pole several feet 

 above the fence, clothes pole, or outhouse to which it is 

 attached. The pole should be strong enough to prevent it from 

 swaying in the breeze, and yet sufficiently slender to protect against 

 marauding cats. Sometimes, if squirrels are abundant, it is necessary 

 to place a metal shield about the pole in order to prevent them from 

 climbing to the nest for the eggs or the young. The pole should be near 

 a building, dead tree, telephone wire, or other natural perch. Wrens 

 and bluebirds also may frequent this box, but they prefer to have 

 a tree in the immediate vicinity. Boxes placed seven to twenty feet up in a 

 tree generally prove more attractive to the latter birds, as well as to the chick- 

 adees and nuthatches; but care should be used to guard the tree from 

 cats by shields of metal or wire netting. As exposed a position as possible 

 should be chosen for the site, yet one which is more or less shaded from 



