^^^ 



THE BKST KIND OF A BIRD ON A HAT 



recorded as having bred in nest-boxes of 

 one sort or another : 



Wood-duck, sparrow-hawk, screech- 

 owl, flicker, red - headed woodpecker, 

 great - crested flycatcher, starling, Eng- 

 lish sparrow, house-finch, tree and violet 

 green swallow, purple martin, house 

 wren, Parkman's wren, Bewick's wren. 

 Vigor's wTen, and Texas Bewick's Wren, 

 white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, 

 black-capped chickadee, Oregon chicka- 

 dee. Carolina chickadee, robin, and three 

 varieties of bluebirds — eastern, western, 

 and mountain. To this list the Carolina 

 wren ought probably to be added ; for 

 while I do not know personally of any 

 record of its actually building in a bird- 

 box, it builds about houses and in tlie 

 most unheard of and crazy places. 



Robins and phoebes mav be encouraged 



178 



by shelves conveniently placed beneath 

 the roofs of porches, piazzas, and sheds, 

 while the insect-eating barn and eave 

 swallows may often be helped in their 

 choice of nesting sites by a supporting 

 shelf. \^ines on trellises or about the 

 piazza posts are attractive nesting sites 

 for chipping sparrow^s, as well as robins, 

 and I once knew of a bluejay that built 

 in a wistaria vine overhanging a friend's 

 front porch. 



One can never tell just what birds are 

 going to do. Crows are reported to have 

 nested in one of the squares in the city 

 of Philadelphia and on Beacon Hill in 

 Boston, while a pair of sparrow-hawks 

 have bred beneath the eaves of the Law- 

 rence Scientific School in Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



Chimncv swifts should also be encour- 



