General Notes. 55 



1 am certain there was only one pair and they were always 

 found within two or three hundred feet of the spot where first 

 seen, and allowed close observation. 



Camhriclf/e, Ohio. ' Mrs. Robert T. Scott. 



PLATFORMS TO BIRD-HOUSES. 



Many writers on nature study topics have told us that in mak- 

 ing a house for birds no platform should be put on under the en- 

 trance, as a house with no platform will not he uiole?ted by • 

 English Sparrows. 



Such a statement Is wholly unwarranted by the facts. The 

 writer hereof has had upwards of a dozen bird-houses for several 

 years past, some with and some without platforms and close ob- 

 servation leads him to conclude that a sparrow shows no prefer- 

 ence on account of a platform — t?hat he will enter one with no 

 platform ,ins=t as freely as though it had one. 



I prefer a house with a platform of liberal size, attached an 

 Inch or two below the entrance, as it is a great convenience for 

 yoxing birds to go out and in before they are old enough to leave 

 the nest. Then, too, it enables both parents to sit on their door- 

 step at one time, and thus better enjoy their (home. 



A house for a iwren should never be without a platform, as in 

 carrying in sticks for the nest foundation the bird nearly always 

 finds it necessary to lay each stick down and get hold of it closer 

 to the end in order to get it through the door, and for this a plat- 

 form of liberal size is needed. 



Such conveniences are enjoyed by birds as much as by people. 

 The better they are pleased with the quarters we provide the 

 more apt they are to return to the same premises the next spring. 



If^orth East, Pa., Nov. 16, 1911. L. B. C. 



January 25. 1912. 



Editor, Wilson Bulletin : — Another spring season is approach- 

 ing with its opportunities for bii'd study. Photography has be- 

 come a veiy important ad.iunct to the equipment of the field orni- 

 thologist. The writer does not believe it is necessary, or wise, 

 to indiscriminately encourage the amateur to enter the field of 

 bird-photography, but it is desirable that those who do attempt it 

 shall 1)6 provided with the conveniences which will increai^e the 

 probability of success. 



Most of the apparatus needed for this work is now on the mar- 

 ket, but, so far as the writer can learn, a satisfactory camera 

 stand has not been put out. The worker ihas been compelled to 



