Coaxing Birds to Your Garden 



They are easily persuaded to accept your 

 hospitality and protect your crops from insects 



By George M. Oaks 



Bird-houses made by the members of a manual training class in 

 Omaha, Nebraska. The houses with the small holes are for wrens; the 

 others are suitable for bluebirds, nuthatches, chickadees or fly catchers 



A 



A swinging wren- 

 house of bark 



COUNTRY 



house with- 

 out birds is 

 almost like a 

 garden without 

 flowers. 



The economic 

 worth of birds about 

 the premises cannot 

 be overestimated. 

 During the breeding 

 period, they work early and late to obtain 

 sufficient food for their nestlings, and their 

 food consists mainly of insects harmful to 

 the farmers. 



It is not hard to get acquainted with 

 birds; they are not half so 

 diffident as many humans. A 

 certain amount of coaxing will 

 sweep away any convention- 

 alities which might exist and 

 the birds can be induced to 

 eat from the window sill, and 

 later from the hand. 



Place a generous supply of 

 cheese crumbs and walnut 

 mec|,ts.on the palm of the hand 

 and hold it flat on the ground. 

 Keep perfectly still and wait. 

 After a; while a bold young 

 robin will spy this restaurant. 

 Goaded on by his rapacious 

 appetite — for birds are reputed 

 to be always hungry — he will 



A rustic stationary 

 house for wrens 



Another wren house. The 

 tiny wren is very useful 

 to the farmer, nine-tenths 

 of its food being insects 



finally risk everything to 

 satisfy his longing for the 

 tempting viands. 



A few years ago, only 

 four species of birds 

 were commonly re- 

 garded as house birds 

 — the wren, the blue- 

 bird, the tree swallow 

 and the purple mar- 

 tin. Now many 

 species (nuthatches, titmice, flycatchers, 

 tree swallows, chickadees, flickers, and red- 

 headed and golden-fronted woodpeckers) 

 which would not ordinarily be expected to 

 avail themselves of artificial homes, are 

 willing occupants of properly- 

 built houses. 



Easiest to please are Mr. 

 and Mrs, Wren, They will 

 accept your hospitality 

 whether the accommodations 

 consist of an elaborate little 

 mansion with cupolas and 

 arched windows, or simply a 

 discarded tomato can, sus- 

 pended by a piece of picture 

 wire. You can bring gladness 

 to their hearts by simply cut- 

 ting a hole the size of a quarter 

 in the bottom of a tin can, 

 plugging the other end with a 

 disk of wood, and fastening 

 the tiny house on a convenient 



756 



