METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



Destruction of Nesting-sites 



With the rapid increase in population in our 

 cities and large towns, and their corresponding 

 growth countryward, roadside shrubbery, or- 

 chards, decaying trees, and other nesting- sites 

 are steadily disappearing as the real-estate agent 

 extends his operations and begins to " improve ' 

 the land. 



In the suburbs of cities, birds that nest in 

 cavities are forced to hunt very closely to find 

 a nesting-site. One spring, on entering a little 

 shed which had remained closed for several 

 months, the author found inside two pairs of 

 dead bluebirds, which had evidently entered 

 a knot-hole on the side of the building in their 

 quest for a nesting-place, and had not been 

 able to find their way out again. Wood ducks, 

 screech owls, and flickers have been found dead 

 in stove-pipes leading from tile chimneys in sum- 

 mer cottages and workshops. Bluebirds have 

 been found drowned in water-barrels in the coun- 

 try, having entered through holes in the con- 

 ductors. 



Even in the country, sometimes the farmer 

 thinks he must clear up the shrubbery and the 

 tangles by the roadside and along the fences, 

 which, however, furnish one excellent means 



