THE WORLD RECORD FOR FEATHERED FRIENDS 



99 



shouting at the top of their voices; but 

 the phoebe went on building her nest, 

 then hatched her eggs, and fed her young 

 without fear, though she could see every 

 one and every one could see her. 



"I was also surprised to find how 

 friendly birds, even of the same species, 

 can become. For instance, we had 14 

 pairs of wrens on a single acre, some of 

 the nests being not more than 15 feet 

 apart. W^e also had robins' nests only 12 

 yards apart. The bluebirds, on the other 

 hand, do not like each other, and would 

 not tolerate another pair of bluebirds 

 nearer than 100 yards. 



"The first year we had no flickers, but 

 there was a pair nesting in an old apple 

 tree on our neighbors" property. During 

 the winter the tree was blown down and 

 our oldest son obtained permission to get 

 it. He cut out the portion of the tree 

 which contained the nest, cleaned out the 

 hole, and then hung the nest in a dying 

 cherry tree. The nest was not more than 

 ten yards from the house, but was taken 

 possession of in 19 14 and again in 191 5. 



"We had, in 191 5, seventy-five pairs of 

 martins in an area approximating ten 

 acres, and expect to have a great many 

 more than this in 1916. We had one pair 

 of red - throated hawks nesting in our 

 apple orchard, and kept them for two 

 years ; but they develoj^ied such a fond- 

 ness for poultry, having frequently been 

 caught thieving, that finally we had to 

 shoot them. We have in the woods a 

 splendid pair of barred owls. They come 

 around the barns at night, and T sus]:)ect 

 them also of attempts at chicken thieving. 



but they are too handsome and rare a 

 bird in these parts to shoot. There is 

 nothing good to be said of the screech- 

 owl, which we suspect of having been the 

 cause of the mysterious disappearance of 

 many young birds from the nests. 



"li any one wants excitement, I sug- 

 gest that he buy or borrow a stufifed owl 

 and put it out in the garden in the day- 

 time during the nesting season. All of 

 the birds in the neighborhood will soon 

 congregate, and the children will learn 

 them quicker than in any other way." 



A census of the species in the 100 acres 

 of fields and woods in ]Mr. Grosvenor's 

 "Wild Acres'' shows that last summer 60 

 species were nesting on the farm, and it 

 is expected that these will be added to 

 every year. 



Commenting upon the story of the 

 birds at "Wild Acres," Dr. Frank Chap- 

 man, the editor of Bird-Lore^ says : 



"The birds which Mr. Grosvenor has 

 brought about him are unquestionably 

 more his birds than if he had shot them 

 and placed their skins in a cabinet. With 

 their death his responsibility for their 

 welfare would cease. But a living bird, 

 to which we feel we owe protection, is 

 exposed to so many dangers that our 

 fears for its safety are correspondingly 

 aroused. These birds of our garden are 

 our guests. Through the erection of 

 bird-houses and by other means we have 

 invited them to live with us, and when 

 they accept as readily as they have with 

 Mr. Grosvenor they make us realize not 

 only our responsibility, but they awaken 

 the strongest sense of hosi)itality." 



