INTRODUCTION XXV 



suitable nesting sites are the three considerations 

 that determine a bird's place of residence. As 

 insects are most numerous on cultivated land, 

 about houses, gardens, and fields where crops are 

 grown, most birds, if not molested, prefer to live 

 where man does. Their worst enemies are gun- 

 ners and cats. Gunners may be kept away by 

 posting one's woods with signs forbidding shoot- 

 ing, and one's yard may be kept free from cats by 

 fencing. Mr. William Brewster, president of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union, has found after 

 many experiments that the best fence for the pur- 

 pose is tarred fish net or seine, six feet high, at- 

 tached at the top to flexible poles ; at the bottom 

 threaded by rods pinned to the ground by tent 

 pegs. When a cat jumps against this fence, the 

 poles bend toward her so that she falls backwards 

 unable to recover herself or spring over. 



When we have protected our birds from their 

 enemies, the next thing is to provide them with 

 suitable nesting places. They are particularly 

 fond of tangles of shrubbery ; and by planting a 

 corner of the yard with sunflowers and wild berry- 

 bearing bushes we can at once supply them with 

 food and with good shelter for their nests. Pans 

 of water add greatly to the comfort of birds 

 and attract them to drink and bathe. Birds like 

 Martins, Bluebirds, Wrens, and Chickadees will 

 usually occupy artificial nesting places provided 

 for them such as cans, gourds, and bird houses. 



