BLUEBIRD 43 



and capped at each end to keep out the rain. 

 It shoukl then be fastened securely to a branch 

 or tree trunk with strong wire. Bird houses of 

 some sort are especially necessary on the j^rairie 

 and in other regions where few natural nesting 

 sites are to be found. 



One of the most effective ways to attract the 

 Bluebird, however, is by j^lanting wild berry- 

 bearing bushes, particularl}^ in the west, where 

 such bushes do not grow naturally. For while 

 three quarters of the Bluebird's food consists of 

 grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and similar 

 insects, and it is " exceedingly useful to the horti- 

 culturist and farmer, destroying mj^riads of larvae 

 and insects which would otherwise increase and 

 multiply to the great injury of vegetation," the 

 Bluebird is not a bird of one idea, but extends his 

 dietary to wild fruits, and by means of them may 

 be brought about our houses. A variety of 

 bushes can be planted, for he has been found to 

 eat bird cherry, chokeberry, dogwood, bush cran- 

 berry, huckleberry, greenbrier, Virginia creeper, 

 strawberry-bush, juniperberry, bittersweet, poke- 

 berry, false spikenard, partridgeberry, holly, rose 

 haws, sumac, and wild sarsaparilla. 



Wilson, in speaking of the Bluebird engaged 

 in courting his mate, says in his delightful way : 

 " If a rival makes his appearance, ... he quits 

 her in a moment, attacks and pursues the in- 

 truder as he shifts from j^lace to place, in tones 



