388 USEFUL BIRDS. 



bridge, barn, shed, or unoccupied house. It will occupy 



almost any shed, l)arn, or barn cellar near a pond or stream, 



but its nest is sometimes broken down for lack of a proper 



support. A box like that in Fig. 164 will be acceptable to 



the Phciebe if nailed up to the plate or rafters of a low shed. 



If the shed is closed, an opening 



\:^2j^\ '^ X \ v\ should always be left for the birds. 



An open window, with a few bars 



across it to keep out cats and human 



intruders, is all that is necessary. 



Pha'bes sometimes build on a shelf 



under proiectino- eaves. They par- 

 Fig. 164.— Phccbe's nest lu box. 1 ^ O J I 



ticularly like a rough stone build- 

 ing. Robins will often build in rough boxes or trays, or on 

 shelves put up under eaves or piazzas, in arbors or even in 

 buildings. 



Having provided nesting places for all the birds that may 

 be induced to nest within our buildings, we may next turn 

 our attention to making nesting boxes. 



Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes. 



Since the use of the axe and saw in woodland and orchard 

 has deprived manj^ birds of their natural nesting places in 

 hollow trees or limbs, there is no better way of providing for 

 an increase of the numbers of such l)irds than by furnishing 

 them with artificial building sites. Bluel)irds found drowned 

 in cisterns, Owls, Flickers, and Wood Ducks found dead in 

 the stove pipes of unoccupied buildings, all show the straits 

 to which birds are now driven in the search for a nesting site. 

 All apertures that lead to such death-traps should be closed, 

 and a plentiful supply of artificial breeding places should be 

 provided. 



What more interesting occupation can there be for the 

 children on the farm than that of preparing nesting boxes 

 for the birds? This is the surest way of increasing the 

 summer bird population, for birds do not lack food in sum- 

 mer so much as safe nesting places in which to rear their 

 young. 



Unfortunately, however, a great obstacle to success with 



