An Old-fashioned Garden 143 



find a martin -box. As a matter of faft, 

 the bluebird, wren, and martin might, if we 

 chose, be restored to the very hearts of our 

 largest towns. People have no more terror 

 for them than for the English sparrow, and 

 they can all hold out against these piratical 

 aliens, if we would consider their few and 

 simple needs. The wrens need but nesting- 

 boxes with an entrance through which the 

 shoulders of a sparrow cannot pass ; and the 

 bluebirds and martins require only that their 

 houses be closed during the winter and very 

 early spring, or until they have returned from 

 their winter-quarters. This is easily done, 

 and when the birds are ready to occupy the 

 accommodations provided for them they will 

 take possession and successfully hold the forts 

 against all intruders. This is not a fancy 

 merely, suggested as the basis of experimen- 

 tation, but is the result of the experience 

 of several people in widely-separated locali- 

 ties. I vividly recall visiting at a house in a 

 large town, where purple martins for more 

 than fifty years had occupied boxes placed 

 upon the eaves of a one-story kitchen. 



While stress is laid upon the importance 

 of regaining the presence in town of these 



