EASTERN BLUEBIRD 237 



single season. The first two females were killed by a cat, but the third 

 raised a brood, for "on a sunny hillside in the garden the cat was 

 buried." 



Nesting. — In the early days of my egg collecting, from 1880 to 1900, 

 we always looked for bluebirds' nests in natural cavities in apple trees 

 in old orchards, and fully 80 percent of our nests were found in such 

 situations, though we found some in natural cavities in other trees 

 and in old woodpecker holes. Nesting boxes were not so plentiful in 

 those days as they are today. Two changes have taken place during 

 the present century that have greatly modified the nesting habits 

 of these birds. The old, decrepit apple trees have been pruned of 

 their dead branches, the cavities have been filled, or the old trees have 

 been removed entirely, thus destroying many favorite nesting sites 

 for bluebirds, tree swallows, and some other birds. The old orchards 

 have been replaced by new, young orchards, in which the trees are 

 regularly pruned and sprayed, which is better for the apple crop but 

 not so good for the birds. Furthermore, there has been an immense 

 increase in the number of bird boxes put up by appreciative bird- 

 lovers and by agriculturists who are now well aware of the economic 

 value of the birds. The result has been that the bluebirds were not 

 slow in adapting themselves to these two changes and in adopting 

 these better types of nesting sites. So that, at least in settled com- 

 munities, a great majority of the bluebirds now nest in the boxes. 



To get the best results the boxes should be set on poles at no great 

 height above ground, preferably between 8 and 12 feet, and in the open; 

 to keep out starlings, the entrance hole should not be over 1% inches in 

 diameter; even then, there will be competition from tree swallows or 

 house wrens, but the bluebirds are usually more than a match for these 

 two. 



Several large nesting projects have been reported where numerous 

 boxes have been erected to encourage the birds to breed. One of these, 

 part of which I have seen, centers around the great bird-banding 

 station of Dr. Oliver L. Austin, at North Eastham, Mass. There are 

 over 500 boxes in this project, chiefly around the main station, but 

 also scattered at various distances away, from 2 to 9 miles north and 

 south along the outer arm of Cape Cod. Most of the boxes that I 

 have seen are erected on slender poles, within reach of a man standing 

 on the ground, along lines of fences and around the edges of fields, 

 bogs, marshes, and ponds. Most of them have been occupied by tree 

 swallows, but many by bluebirds. It was here that Mr. Low made the 

 studies of these two birds referred to under the two species. 



For seven or eight years Dr. T. E. Musselman (1939) has been build- 

 ing bluebird boxes in quantity and erecting them on fence posts along 

 the hard roads leading into Quincy, 111. "The idea appealed to the 

 popular fancy immediately," and he has received much help from 



