THE BLUEBIRD. 229 
all these engagements the male Martin seemed content to encourage his mate 
by his vociferous screams, while both Bluebirds fought with equal vigor.” 
In a fair encounter the Bluebird is 
more than a match for the always execra- 
ble English Sparrow ; but no bird can en- 
dure the mobbing which the hoodlums re- 
sort to; and as a result the Bluebirds have 
to surrender the choicest places to the in- 
terlopers. 
The home of the Bluebird consists 
ordinarily of a deserted Woodpecker hole 
in tree or stub, or else of a decayed cavity 
in post, stump, or apple tree. The hole is 
plentifully lined with grass, weed-stalks, 
and unclassifiable trash; altho birds of 
more cultivated tastes are beginning to 
employ feathers. The birds distinctly fa- 
vor the haunts of men, and so, when occa- 
sion offers, will occupy bird-boxes or 
suitable crannies. J once found a brood 
in a half open mail-box, attached to the 
front door of a village dwelling tempo- 
rarily vacant. Mr. Oliver Davie reports 
finding a nest in Columbus in the interior 
of a car-wheel rendered idle by a railroad 
strike; and another in Morrow County, 
ina deserted Fave Swallow's nest. 
A farm near North Amherst in 
Lorain County contains, besides sev- 
eral fields and pastures and an ideal 
bit of woodland, two young orchards 
and a small vineyard. Throughout 
these last, Mr. Will Smithkons, 
the son of the owner, has dis- 
tributed upwards of fifty Blue- 
bird boxes, each composed of a 
Taken 
near 
Columbus 
section of a hollow limb, closed 
with a board at top and bottom, 
and provided with a neat au- 
gur-hole in the side. The boxes aaa 
=, 4 by the 
are made fast to the trees or Author 
; Se : BLUEBIRDS AT NEST. 
lodged at considerable intervals 
THE LOWER KNOT-HOLE CONTAINS A BROOD OF 
along the intersecting fences See 
