THE OOLOGIST 



49 



from overseas. Later, when the be- 

 trothal has taken place, both male and 

 female fight to preserve the sanctity 

 of their small domain, cocks fighting 

 cocks and hens fighting hens. And 

 the object of it all is clear. It is to 

 secure to each pair sufficient food to 

 sustain themselves and their young in 

 order that they may fulfill nature's 

 greatest law — race preservation. 



All nature lovers are under a great 

 debt to Mr. Howard whose work is 

 the result of most painstaking obser- 

 vation. To no section is the matter 

 more engrossing than to oologists and 

 for them it will make many things 

 clear that have hitherto been puzzling 

 and invest their work with yet another 

 new aspect of most absorbing inter- 

 est. Working in the light of Mr. How- 

 ard's theory they will be able now to 

 watch and see to what extent their 

 own observations can corroborate and, 

 perhaps, elaborate his. 



Kenneth L. Skinner_ 



MORE HOUSING PROBLEMS 



By Geoffrey Gill 



Some years ago, while I was still in 

 High School, the Manual Training 

 class had to construct bird houses 

 These houses, when finished, looked 

 very much like the kennel in which 

 we kept our little fox terrier, Jim, be- 

 fore he met his untimely death under 

 the cruel wheels of a rambling Ford. 

 Of course, the houses were much 

 smaller; and the front door, so to 

 speak, was under the peak of the roof 

 instead of on the ground as in the late 

 Jim's abode. This hole or door was 

 about on© and one-half inches in 

 diameter and was well rounded with a 

 file so as to insure an easy passage 

 for the future feathered tenants. These 

 houses were especially adapted for the 

 well-known spring friend of ours, the 

 Bluebird, so the instructor said. 



When they were put together they 



though any dark color will do just as 

 well. These were polished up and 

 put on shelves for the exhibition at 

 the end of the term in January, and 

 then distributed to their respective 

 owners. There were two or three 

 that remained unclaimed, so I asked 

 for these and after a little persuading 

 on my part I at last carried them 

 home. 



One Saturday afternoon, late in 

 April, I went to see a kind neighbor, 

 who had a fairly large garden. After 

 much promising not to do this and not 

 to do that, I finallly was given permis- 

 sion to climb a few trees and place my 

 little bird homes. You must be very 

 particular concerning the future site 

 of all your different little wooden bird 

 bungalows if you wish to get the best 

 results, as all birds do not like the 

 same thing. Bluebirds like their 

 nests from ten to twelve feet high, in 

 orchards, but will sometimes build a 

 nest in a house attached to a building 

 if it is properly protected. A House 

 Wren, that tiny bubbling spring of 

 song, is not at all particular and has 

 been known to build its nest and raise 

 its ycung in the pocket of an old coat 

 that a gardener had left in a tool 

 house. Chickadees prefer swampy 

 woodland at the height of five or six 

 feet. Robins will build in little open 

 porches or shelves placed anywhere 

 from six to sixteen feet high and so 

 it goes with them all. You can't ex- 

 pect to know these right away, but 

 after you have given much attention to 

 the subject it will be easy to study out 

 such matters. When I first put up 

 houses I didn't know these little ins 

 and outs, but just placed them in the 

 trees as best I could. 



In the middle of May I visited this 

 place again and peeked up at the 

 little houses now partly hidden by 

 leaves. I passed under each one, and 

 could not see any signs of occupancy 



