Bird Protection 



Guy a. Bailey 



Professor of Biology and Nature Study, State Normal School 

 Geneseo, N. Y. 



Considerable time is nowadays devoted to che manufacture of 

 bird boxes both by the professional wood- worker and the manual 

 training departments of our schools Then we have many boys 

 and girls who put up empty starch boxes and such other boxes as 

 the grocery man may have to give away. Just which kind the 

 birds prefer is rather difficult to answer for birds seem to use almost 

 any kind if the location is suitable In any event more time is put 

 on the making of the box in many cases than on the selection of the 

 location. With some che poinc seems to be to get che biids to nest 

 near by where they may be easily observed. If a dozen kinds of 

 birds could be brought to the front yard that would be highly 

 desirable In the case of many of our birds it would be betcer for 

 them and their young if the nesting sices were farther removed 

 from habitation for the reason that in the case of the chickadee, 

 house wren and some woodpeckers the young frequently come to 

 the groimd where they are picked up by the prowling house cats; 

 so that what is intended as a real benefit for the birds turns out to 

 be a fine piece of work for the hungr}- cat Ic would be well co 

 consider the cat quescion before trying to get the birds too near the 

 house. We should keep in mind that in the rural sections we have 

 a cat to one hundred acres or more, while in the towns we may have 

 one hundred cats to the acre. All these cats may roam through 

 the same little patch of woods, park or ravine as the case may be. 

 Is not the first consideration in bird protection the elimination of 

 neglected cats ? 



What has been said about nesting boxes may apply to the ques- 

 tion of feeding birds. We have a great many kinds of bird foods. 

 Much time has been spent in finding out the best mixtures and 

 there are many useful and ingenious feeding boxes on the market. 

 Attracting birds, however, to a particular spot for any length of 

 time is sure to bring the cats. By hiding in the neighboring hedges 

 or brush piles or grass they have a far greater number of birds to 

 choose from than would be the case if there were no feeding places 

 nearby. The cats become clever in striking down birds in the 

 vicinity of feeding boxes. A place where I have been feeding 



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