260 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



hole 

 en- 

 trance . 



Baron's supervision. Mr. Wharton's observations are sum- 

 marized below from a letter written while he was abroad : — 

 Nest boxes have been inserted in the stone walls of the 

 castle in the form of stone blocks in about 100 places. These 

 A are made in two parts, thus (see cut). 



The block " A " can be withdrawn at 

 any time to inspect the interior. These 

 nesting sites are very largely occupied 

 by starlings. 



In the top stories of the castle, where 

 the walls are of one thickness of boards, Baron von Berlepsch 

 has cut entrance holes in the walls, and hung his regular 

 boxes inside, with a slanting slab sawed off 

 the front (see cut). These he believes are 

 more readily occupied than when hung out- 

 side the building, and are easy to inspect. An 

 iron strip is nailed across the top of the open- 

 ing made by the saw cut, with a notch cut in 

 the middle of its lower side, into which a nail, 

 driven in the wall, fits, so thfit the box hangs 

 on this nail and can be quickly removed and 

 replaced. The Baron plans to have such boxes made with 

 window glass set in the back opposite the nest, so that he 

 may study the feeding of the young birds in the dark. He 

 has a theory that they display some sort of phosphorescence 

 to guide the parents. 



Many nesting boxes in the park had cement tops fitting 

 into the top of the bored-out limb (see cut). 



The " shelter woods " plantations of differ- 

 ent ages are divided into three kinds: those 

 in the park, primarily for beauty (generally 

 under considerable shade) ; those in small 

 patches of woods, primarily for the protection 

 of the woods ; and those primarily for the pro- 

 tection of birds. 



1. The undergrowth in the park is largely 

 modeled on the regular shelter wood, and the thorn (Cra- 

 tcegus oxycantha) the Baron considers the best thorn for 



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