1 68 Birds Every Child Should Know 



one of the best pieces of bird architecture you 

 are likely to find. 



Some over-thrifty housekeepers, neverthe- 

 less, tear down nests from their piazzas, because 

 the poor little phoebes are so afflicted with lice 

 that they are considered objectionable neigh- 

 bours. Many wild birds, like chickens, have 

 their Hfe-blood drawn by these minute pests. 

 But a thorough dusting of the phoebe's nest 

 with Persian powder would bring relief to the 

 tormented birds, save their babies, perhaps, 

 from death and keep the piazza free from 

 vermin. No birds enjoy a bath in your foun- 

 tain or water pan more than these tormented 

 ones. 



From purely selfish motives it pays to cul- 

 tivate neighbours ever on the lookout for 

 flies, wasps, May beetles, click beetles, elm 

 destroyers and the moth of the cutworm. The 

 first nest is usually so infested that the phoebes 

 either tear it down in July, and build a new one 

 on its site, or else make the second nest at a 

 little distance from the first. The parents of 

 two broods of from four to six ravenously 

 hungry, insectivorous young, with an instinc- 

 tive desire to return to their old home year 

 after year, should surely meet no discourage- 

 ment from thinking farmers' wives. 



Shouldn't you think that baby phoebes, 

 reared in nests tmder railroad bridges, would 



