332 



Bird - Lore 



a distance of some six miles from the castle. They are, as a rule, of the regula- 

 tion sizes and shapes as described in the book, being imitations of the cavities 

 excavated l)y Woodpeckers, and about 90 per cent are said to be occupied each 



year. A modifica- 

 tion, however, has 

 been made in the 

 covers to these boxes, 

 which should be of 

 special interest to 

 New Englanders liv- 

 ing within the region 

 infested by the gipsy 

 moths. In order to 

 make the interior 

 easily accessible, 

 both for cleaning it 

 out and for purposes 

 of observation, the 

 regular wooden 

 cover, held in place 

 with lag screws, has 

 been discarded, and 

 one of cement is now 

 used. This has a 

 projection or flange 

 below, which fits 

 loosely into the top 

 of the box, and pre- 

 vents the cover slid- 

 ing off; the weight 

 of the cement is 

 sufficient to prevent 

 its being blown off. 

 The nesting-holes in the walls of the castle are made wholly of cement, being in 

 the form of blocks, which fit into spaces from which the stone blocks have 

 been removed. These cement block boxes are in two 

 parts, one being three-fourths and the other one-fourth 

 of the whole. The larger contains the whole of the 

 lower portion of the cavity and the rear half of the 

 upper portion, and is set permanently into the gap in 

 the wall. The other quarter contains the front half of 

 the upper portion of the nesting cavity together with 

 the entrance hole, and may be easily removed by 



ONE OF THE CEMEXT-BLOCK NEST-BOXES IN THE 

 WALLS OF THE CASTLE; HERR FRIEDERICH SCHWABE, IN 

 CHARGE OF THE SCHOOL OF BIRD PROTECTION, STAND- 

 ING NEAR IT. 



