THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



509 



Our Native Birds' Protectorate 



Under the Direction of the Committees on Bird Preservation and Propagation. 



National Association of Gardeners, L. H. Jensen, St. Louis, Mo., Chairman. 



American Association of Park Superintendents, Hermann Merkel, New York, Chairman. 



ENEMIES OF HOUSE BIRDS.- 



Birds have numerous enemies from which a careful 

 landlord will try to guard them. Among these is 

 the English sparrow, whose persistent attacks too 

 often drive more desiralile birds away from their nests 

 and from the neighborhood. European starlings, 

 wjiich at present are not distributed beyond a narrow 

 strip of the Atlantic coast region centering about 

 New York, are to be condemned for their pernicious 

 interference with native house birds. 



Cats and large snakes are enemies of birds, the for- 

 mer perhaps killing more birds than any other mammal. 

 Trees and poles supporting houses should be sheathed 

 with tin or galvanized iron to prevent these enemies 

 from climbing to the nests. Sc[uirrels give more or 

 less trouble by gnawing houses, eating eggs, and kill- 

 ing nestlings. Red squirrels in particular, have a very 

 bad reputation in this respect, and many experiment- 

 ers keep their groimds free from them. Some regard 

 flying squirrels as but little better than red ones. 

 Even gray and fox squirrels are occasionally trouble- 

 some. It is not necessary, however, that bird lovers 

 shiiuld wage indiscriminate warfare against all squir- 

 rels. It is far better to adopt the rule never to kill 

 a squirrel tmless there is reason to believe that it has 

 acquired the habit of eating eggs of young birds : the 

 result will probably be that not more than one red 

 squirrel in fifty nor more than one gray squirrel in 

 a hundred will have to be killed. Where sc[uirrels are 

 numerous they give more or less trouble by gnawing 

 and disfiguring houses. This damage may be pre- 

 vented, however, by covering the ]3arts about the en- 

 trance w-ith tin or zinc. 



A means of attracting l)irds about human habita- 

 tions is to furnish an abmidance of food, preferably in 

 food shelters. If one is unable to make shelters that 

 will protect food in all kinds of weather, the food may- 

 be fastened to trunks or branches of trees or scat- 

 tered in sheltered places on the ground. A decided 

 advantage in having shelters, aside from that of pro- 

 tecting food, is that they may be placed where the 

 birds can be watched conveniently. When shelters 

 are used the birds are first baited by placing food, 

 such as suet, seeds, or cracked nuts, in a conspictious 

 place, and then led by^ degrees to enter the inclosure. 



The location of a bird house or food shelter has 

 much to do with its success, for the reason that birds 

 have decided notions as to proper surroundings for 

 a dwelling. Martins prefer to lireed near houses, but 

 not within 20 feet of trees or l)uildings. Bluebirds are 

 inclined to select orchards or pastures having scat- 

 tered trees. Wrens, thrashers, and catbirds live in 

 thick shrubbery. Robins like trees with sturdy trunks 

 and branches. Titmice, nuthatches and most of the 

 woodpeckers are woodland species, although flickers 

 and red-headed woodpeckers are more at home among 

 the scattered trees of roadsides and pastures. Song 

 sparrows frequent weedy swales and brush fences. 

 Swallows do not enter woods so that a house would 

 be as attractive to them in one open place as in an- 



other. The eastern |ihoel)e, the bl.ack ])hoebe, and the 

 house finch, while not limited i<. the haunts of man, 

 are noticeably partial to them. Crested flycatchers, 

 screech owls, barn owls, and s])arrow hawks are gov- 

 erned more by convenience than liy taste ; although 

 normally inclined to hold aloof from man, they have 

 hi many instances reared their broods in close proxim- 

 ity to dwellings. Barn owls, true to their name, ac- 

 cept suitable quarters in builidngs without hesitation. 

 Before erecting bird houses one should first de- 

 termine the kinds of ])irds to which his premises are 

 adapted. The question usually next arising is as to 

 the number of birds than can be accommodated. Un- 

 less grounds are large, it is generally useless to expect 

 as tenants more than a pair of each species, except 

 martins. However, the singular intolerance shown 

 by most birds during the breeding season to others 

 of their kind does not operate between those of dif- 

 ferent species. A dozen difl:"erent kinds of birds will 

 pursue their several modes of hunting and raise their 

 families in the same lot, but rarely two of the same 

 sort. The fact that birds are more tolerant toward 

 strangers than towards relatives was well illustrated 

 bv an observation made recentl}' by the writer in New 

 Mexico. A one-story tool house 10 feet square had 

 nailed to three corners of its roof rough bird houses 

 made from packing boxes. One was occupied by vio- 

 let-green swallows, another by- western blue birds, and 

 the third by English sparrows. .A. still more remark- 

 able association (if different species has been reported 

 by Otto Widmann, of .'>t. Louis, Mo., who once had 

 a pair each of flickers, martins, house wrens and Eng- 

 lish soarrows nesting simultaneously in the same 

 house. Of all our house birds, martins alone are so- 

 cial. The fact that there is a limit to the possible bird 

 po])ulatinn > m any given tract must be taken into 

 consideration. When the probable tenants have been 

 decided upon, the selection of sites is in order, for 

 the site often decided the style of house that is to 

 occupy it. In the final placing of bird houses, care 

 should be taken to have them face away from the 

 winds prevailing in stormy weather. The strongly- 

 developed homing instincts of birds can be relied on 

 to attach them to the neighborhood where they first 

 saw the light, and the identical pairs which nest in 

 the houses provided for them one year will often re- 

 turn the next season to enjoy the same bounty ;ind 

 protection. 



' From .1 Bulletin Ijy Ned DcarI)oi-ii, .Assistant V . S. Biologist. 



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 the Act of ,\ugust 34. 1912. of THE CARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF 

 .\MEKIC.\. pnhlishcd monthly at New York, N. V.. for October 1. I'n.S. 



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Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders, holdnig 1 

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Sworn to and subscribed before me this first day of October, 1915. 



(Seal.) F. IRVING MORROW, Notary Public. 



(My cnm-ni'sion CNpires .\ugvi't S. 1920) 



