NESTING-HOUSES 53 



among boards in the garret of a barn ; in an old 

 cap hanging on a nail inside of the lattice-work 

 of an outhouse ; under roofs of porches of oc- 

 cupied houses; on a pantry shelf adjoining a 

 kitchen, the pantry being visited many times 

 daily ; behind a bookcase in a study. 



Birds around Buildings 



In addition to those birds which nest in closed 

 houses, there are some others for which induce- 

 ments may be held out to nest around build- 



ings. 



Robins. For robins shallow trays may be 

 placed in suitable locations. Mrs. M. 0. Wright, 

 in " Bird-Lore," writes : " Three years ago I tried 

 the experiment of having some flat, shallow trays 

 about six inches square, bracketed in suitable 

 locations so as to form attractive nesting-places 

 for nest-building robins, who, as we all know, are 

 fond of straddling a tree-crotch with their com- 

 pound of clay and grass or utilizing any flat beam 

 or odd nook that will go for a nesting-place. 

 These boxes had a few holes in the bottom so 

 that they should not hold water, and were placed 

 so that a branch or other protection afforded at 

 least partial top shelter. The first season the 

 robins examined but distrusted the contrivance ; 



