506 



BIRDS 



BIRDS 



560. The Hil- 

 bersdorfei food- 

 house. 



precautions are taken: The hole should be well near 

 the top with no perch near; the roof should slope from 

 the back toward the front and should project about 

 three inches. If the box is deep, the young bluebirds 

 find it difficult to leave the house until 

 they are strong and able to care for 

 themselves, and this is a great advant- 

 age. The roof prevents rain from beat- 

 ing in, and keeps the cats out. From 

 whatever direction the cat may attempt 

 to reach the hole, the projecting roof 

 stands in the way of reaching the nest. 

 Twelve by 6 by 6 inches are good 

 dimensions for such a house. It should 

 be placed 8 to 15 feet above the 

 ground. 



The house wren is the easiest of birds 

 to attract. It will easily appropriate 

 any little house if the English sparrow 

 does not interfere. A good size is 7 by 

 5 by 5 inches, with the hole only as 

 large as a 25-cent piece. It should be 

 placed 6 to 8 feet from the ground, with 

 the long axis of the box backward. The wren has the 

 habit of filling the front of the house with sticks and 

 leaving a hollow in the rear for the eggs. The hole 

 should be in the upper half of the box. The middle of 

 April is not too early to place it, in the northern states, 

 although houses put out late may attract for the second 

 brood. It is well to make the house so that it can be 

 opened, to permit of its being cleaned for the second 

 brood, for the wren will choose a clean house if it can 

 find one. 



The purple martin is an attractive neighbor. Unlike 

 the wrens, which will not nest near one another, the 

 martins are gregarious, so that the houses should 

 have a number of compartments, each part 9 by 11 

 inches, with entrance 2% inches across. The house 

 should be placed 15 to 20 feet above the ground. To 

 prevent English sparrows from build- 

 ing before the martin arrives in the 

 spring, the openings should be covered 

 until April; or better, the 

 house may be taken down 

 in the fall and put up 

 again in April. 



Woodpeckers may be 

 induced to live in houses. 

 The opening should 

 always be circular and 

 with an upward slant; 

 the bottom of the nest- 

 ing cavity should be 

 gourd-shaped and end in 



561. Berlepsch of Berlepsch's a pointed trough within 

 Nesting-box, nesting-box. which a few shavings are 

 placed; and the inner 



walls should be roughened somewhat to allow the 

 young birds to cling more easily. Of the 10,000 or 

 more of these houses tried in parts of Germany, more 

 than 90 per cent are occupied. 



Drinking- and bathing-places for birds. 



Birds need free access to water. If a brook or pond is 

 near by, no more is necessary ; but, otherwise, special 

 provision should be made. The presence of water is a 

 great factor in inducing birds to nest in a given locality. 



There are many kinds of bird-fountains, but the chief 

 characteristics are that the water be shallow, that the 

 edge of the container be not slippery, and that they be 

 placed where there are no hiding-places for cats. Most 

 interesting styles have been devised, varying from con- 

 structions of natural rocks holding little pools, with 

 wild flowers and ferns close by, to those made of flower- 

 pot saucers, or of special pans, placed safe from molesta- 

 tion. School children are readily interested in the pla- 



562. Longi- 



563. Nesting-box. 



cing of bird-fountains and in watching the birds that 

 come to drink and to bathe. 



Nesting-places for birds that build in the open. 



Birds breeding in the open nest in bushes and trees 

 and on the ground, and among reeds or in banks. These 

 comprise by far the larger class, and yet these birds 

 are finding it more and 

 more difficult to secure 

 nesting-places. One 

 cuts off hedges along 

 roads and fences, cleans 

 the pastures and mead- 

 dows, digs away the 

 banks and seals up the 

 roofs of barns with little thought of the birds that 

 would like to nest there. 



While all trees provide more or less shelter for 

 birds, the conifers are most useful for this purpose. 

 It is practicable so to plant as to have wild fruits for 

 birds at all times of the year, and especially in cold 

 winter days, and perhaps during the time in which 

 one wishes to protect cultivated fruits. It seems to 

 be agreed that the best single tree is the mulberry, 

 either the white or the Russian. The fruiting season 

 is long, and the trees are easily grown. Four good 

 plants are: early sweet cherry, Juneberry or shadbush, 

 mulberry, Virginia creeper. Probably more birds visit 

 these plants than any others. Many other shrubs and 

 herbs are of great value, as elder, black cherry, rasp- 

 berry, blueberry, dogwood, pokebcrry, 

 and mountain-ash. Many growers pro- 

 tect their cherries and strawberries 

 with mulberry and shadbush; or they 

 plant a sweet early variety of the given 

 fruit, to be left unpicked especially for 

 the birds. Elder, Virginia creeper, and 

 black cherry will serve as protectors 

 for grapes. Raspberries and black- 

 berries may be protected by mulberry, 

 chokecherry, and elder. 



Germany recognizes Seebach as the 

 great bird experiment station. Repre- 

 sentatives of many states and countries have visited 

 the place, making effective observations of methods. 

 For these students, special winter courses in bird-pro- 

 tection haye been arranged, including not only theory 

 but practical instruction. 

 They find many acres 

 of wood, thicket, and park 

 made attractive to birds, 

 with luxuriant undergrowth 

 about the trees, special care 

 as to the species, the shrubs 

 specially pruned (Figs. 565, 

 566); hundreds of nesting- 

 houses; food -houses and 

 food-bells in various situa- 

 tions for winter-feeding. In 

 the spring of 1905, the trees 

 of the Hainich wood, south 

 of Seebach, were stripped 

 bare by the larva of a little 

 moth (Tortrix viridana), 

 whereas the wood at See- 

 bach with its nesting-boxes 

 was untouched. At a dis- 



564. Nesting- 

 box. 



565. One-year-old whorls re- 

 cently pruned, to provide nest- 

 ing places. 



5o6. Old whorls recently 

 pruned. 



tance of a little more than a quarter of a mile the first 

 traces of the plague were apparent. 



THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FAMILIAR BIRDS. 



Woodpeckers are especially fitted for the care of trees. Ths 

 downy is the most useful woodpecker. It is the bird of the o 

 orchard, preferring neglected trees, under the scales of which tb 

 codling-moth larva lies during the winter. It has been known 

 visit as many as 181 woodland trees between 9:40 A.M. and L 

 P.M., making, meanwhile, twenty-six excavations for food, most ( 



