THE BLUEBIRD. 



229 



all these engagements the male Martin seemed content to encourage his mate 

 by his vociferous screams, while both Bluebirds fought with equal vigor." 



In a fair encounter the Bluebird is 

 more than a match for the always execra- 

 ble English Sparrow ; but no bird can en- 

 dure the mobbing which the hoodlums re- 

 sort to ; and as a result the Bluebirds have 

 In surrender the choicest places to the in- 

 terlopers. 



The home of the Bluebird consists 

 ordinarily of a deserted Woodpecker hole 

 in tree or stub, or else of a decayed cavity 

 in post, stump, or apple tree. The hole is 

 plentifully lined with grass, weed-stalks, 

 and unclassifiable trash; altho birds of 

 more cultivated tastes are beginning to 

 employ feathers. The birds distinctly fa- 

 v< ir the haunts of men, and si >, when occa- 

 sion offers, will occupy bird-boxes or 

 suitable crannies. I once found a brood 

 in a half open mail-box, attached to the 

 front door of a village dwelling tempo- 

 rarily vacant. Mr. Oliver Davie reports 

 finding a nest in Columbus in the interior 

 of a car-wheel rendered idle by a railroad 

 strike: and another in Morrow County, 

 in a deserted Eave Swallow's nest. 



A farm near North Amherst in 

 Lorain County contains, besides sev- 

 eral fields and pastures and an ideal 

 bit of woodland, two young orchards 

 and a small vineyard. Throughout 

 these last. Mr. Will Smithkons, 

 the son of the owner, has dis- 

 tributed upwards of fifty Blue- 

 bird boxes, each composed of a 

 section of a hollow limb, closed 

 with a board at top and bottom, 

 and provided with a neat au- 

 gur-hole in the side. The boxes 

 are made fast to the trees or 

 lodged at considerable intervals 

 along the intersecting fences 



