18 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



Martins love a home in the open and elevated on a pole 

 from ten to twenty feet. Their house may be at least two stories 

 high and have many rooms, for they love to nest in colonies, 

 and they return to the same place year after year. 



A brushpile left in the corner of the yard will usually 

 secure the nest of a Brown Thrasher or Catbird, and this means 

 the best of bird music during the nesting season. A dead limb 

 left on a tree, possibly with the top cut off, is likely to gain the 

 nest of the Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, or Redhead. 



It is well, as far as possible, to provide two nests for 

 birds, as most of them rear a second brood. After their first 

 young were grown Bluebirds have been known to go straight 

 across the garden and take possession of a second house. 



