No. 4.] BIRD HOUSES AND NESTING BOXES. 



205 



small grape basket hung or nailed up under projecting eaves or a 

 shed roof may be used by robins, swallows or phoebes, particu- 

 larly if a little hay is placed in it. A pair of Carolina wrens at 

 Fairhaven nested in such a basket partly filled with dynamite 

 hung under the ridge pole of a 

 barn. 



PJicehe. — Any little open box 

 or shelf, put up under the 

 eaves of a building or under the 

 roof of any open shed or porch, 

 may be used by phoebes (Fig. 

 19). This makes a safe sup- 

 port for their nests which often 

 is appreciated by the bird. 

 Phoebes rarely nest far from water. 



Barn Swallow. — Boxes or shelves similar to those used by 

 phoebes may be placed in barns for the barn swallows, but a 

 little block nailed on a rafter is all they need, or a lath nailed 

 across two rafters so that the ends project. (See Plate VI.) 

 Even two nails driven into a beam or rafter about 2 inches 

 apart, the heads projecting about 2 inches, may be utilized, 

 and will be support enough to keep the nests from falling. 



Fig. 19. — Phoebes' nest in box. 



Fig. 20. — Device to keep cats, squirrels, etc., from climbing to bird houses. 



When rafters were made of knotty logs or mere poles with the 

 bark removed no such supports were needed, but sawed timbers 

 do not present safe points of attachment for mud-built nests. 

 There should be an opening in every barn for swallows to enter. 



