The Audubon Societies 



65 



one examines the natural nesting-places of any of these hole-nesting birds, he 

 will find that, with few exceptions, they are in open places in bright sunlight 

 or light shade, and seldom among thick branches of a tree or in dense shade. 

 The best place for the box, therefore, is on a pole, 5 to 15 feet from the ground, 

 in an open space or at the edge of trees facing the open. An iron pipe, an inch 

 or more in diameter and 

 8 feet long, set in the 

 ground 2 feet, makes an 

 ideal location for a box, 

 as it likewise gives pro- 

 tection from cats and 

 squirrels. It is for this 

 reason that the Cornell 

 bird-house is designed to 

 be put up in no other 

 way. A post on the porch 

 or the unshaded side of 

 the house will also serve 

 if the box is turned to 

 face outward. The trunk 

 of a large tree, several 

 feet below the first 

 branches, a telegraph 

 pole, or a high fence-post 

 are other places which 

 will prove suitable, 

 although perhaps not 

 quite so satisfactory as the 

 separate post. An excel- 

 lent place for the large 

 Flicker or Sparrow Hawk 

 box is the top of a dead 

 tree, particularly if the 

 smaller branches are cut 

 away from around the 

 box. Occasionally a Wren 

 or a Nuthatch will use a box placed in the shade among the branches of a tree, but 

 such places, while appealing strongly to most people as highly desirable, should 

 be shunned. House Sparrows are the only birds that will regularly use boxes 

 when so placed. 



CARE OF THE BOX 



If a box is well made, once in position, it need never be removed, though it 

 will probably last longer if taken inside during the winter. Frail or fancy boxes 



PROPERLY PLACED BIRD-BOXES 



There are many trees but the houses are placed in the open. 

 The one in the foreground was occupied by Wrens; that in the 

 background by Crested Flycatchers. 



