216 Wild Bird Guests 



Robins prefer a somewhat wider shelf, perhaps 

 six inches, fastened a little farther away from the 

 roof, to allow for the larger size of the birds 

 when they stand on the rim of the nest to feed 

 their young. Some people object to having birds 

 nest in this way because they soil the piazza, 

 but it requires so very little work to keep every- 

 thing neat and clean, that it is hard to see how 

 anyone can forego the delight of observing the 

 home life of their little guests, to say nothing of 

 the advantage of having countless troublesome 

 insects destroyed. The pair of phoebes on our 

 piazza, with two pairs of tree swallows which nest 

 in boxes in the garden, and a pair of barn swal- 

 lows in the barn, keep our house practically free 

 from flies and mosquitoes all summer long. 



A large proportion of the birds which will nest 

 neither in nest boxes nor upon shelves are pro- 

 vided for in Mr. Kennard's splendid list of trees 

 and shrubs and creepers given in Chapter VIII. 



Baron Hans von Berlepsch goes a step farther 

 and plants what he calls shelter woods, the trees 

 and shrubs in which are systematically pruned 

 in such a way that the new shoots form whorls 

 and crotches of the kinds most attractive to 

 birds which make their nests in such places. 

 But this is an art in itself, and those who would 

 learn it I must refer to Martin Hieseman's 



