BIKD HOUSES AND NESTING BOXES. 



EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH, STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



Many people fail to put up bird houses or nesting boxes 

 because of the trouble and expense entailed, or because they do 

 not know how^ to prepare and erect them in such a way as to 

 get the birds. Much that has been written on this subject has 

 been theoretical. Fatal errors in the dimensions of entrances 

 have been disseminated. For want of specific instructions, 

 nesting boxes have been put wrong side up or in places where 

 no bird would use them. 



This circular has been written to encourage people to con- 

 struct easily made, inexpensive nesting boxes, and to tell them 

 w^here and how to put them up so that the birds will be sure 

 to take them. Making and putting up such boxes should be 

 looked upon as a pastime. They need cost little or nothing, and 

 he who makes them should feel well rewarded by the joy of 

 seeing the little tenants choose, settle down, build their nests 

 and rear their young, singing their cheery songs meanwhile, 

 and feeding on the insect enemies of crops and trees. We must 

 provide homes for the birds that nest in hollow trees, as there 

 are no longer holes enough to go round, while destructive in- 

 sects have so increased in numbers that the food supply is 

 abundant. 



A plentiful supply of nesting boxes properly put up will in- 

 crease the number of birds in a locality by multiplying the 

 bird families reared, and boxes rightly situated give much 

 better protection to the young than most tree cavities. A bird 

 box is serviceable if it furnishes a suitable nesting apartment, 

 shelters nest, eggs and young from sun, w^ind and storm, and 

 provides security against the birds' enemies. Also it may 

 serve in winter as a night shelter or sleeping place for a wood- 

 pecker or a party of nuthatches or chickadees. We must allow 

 the birds to be the judges of what they want, as they and not 



