396 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



ffiass. I have often thus watched Bluebirds and Chickadees 

 feeding their young. 



Thus far it has been my intention to show how expense may 

 be avoided in the construction of nesting boxes. Neverthe- 

 less, expensive ornamental l)ird houses add to the attractive- 

 ness of a country home, and may l)e displayed where old tin 



cans and cheap boxes 

 would be out of place. 

 In building such bird 

 houses the best plan is 

 to imitate the design 

 of some dwelling. A 

 pretty cottage or a 

 country villa may be 

 constructed in minia- 

 ture. The large bird 

 houses sometimes made 

 are highly ornamental ; 

 but most of our native 

 s])ecies are not social in 

 their nesting habits, and 

 when a large house is put up it is likely to be occupied either 

 by a single pair of birds or by Pur[)le Martins or House 

 Sparrows. Such houses are sometimes occupied by both 

 Martins and Sparrows, but in such cases the Sparrows usu- 

 ally in the end drive out the ^Martins. If the Sparrows can be 

 driven away, there is no bird that can be so readily increased 

 in numbers by putting up nesting boxes as can the Purple 

 Martin. AVhen once a colony of Martins becomes estab- 

 lished, it will in a few j^ears fill several large bird houses 

 with its increase. The experience of Mr. J. AYarren Jacobs, 

 who established a large eolony, illustrates this.^ A few Mar- 

 tins are returning to some of their old homes in this State ; 

 they should be encouraged. The houses should be either 

 taken down in fall and not })ut up until the Martins return 

 in spring, or the entrances to the rooms should be closed up 

 until spring, that the Sparrows may have no opportunity to 

 get in before the ]Martins return. Were the Sparrows de- 



Fig-. 169. — A Martin box. 



^ The Story of a Martin Colony, by J. Warren Jacobs, "Waynesburg, Pa. 



