NESTING BOXES 



OOMETIME in the long ago an American Indian made the 

 1^ astonishing discovery that birds of certain species could be 

 induced to occupy homes fashioned for them by human hands, 

 and promptly swung aloft from the tips of his lodge-poles, cala- 

 bashes or gourds, the dried shells of which, with entrances prop- 

 erly cut, made ideal nesting-boxes. In many sections of the South, 

 the calabash is grown in large quantities by the planters, and is 

 still used as a nesting-box for Bluebirds, Purple Martins, and 

 Wrens of several species, with most successful results. After the 

 calabash has ripened and the shell has become hardened, a cir- 

 cular opening of a size to admit the particular species of bird for 

 which it is intended, is cut in the side of the calabash, at a point 

 where its diameter is the greatest. The seeds and dried meat are 

 then extracted by means of a piece of wire bent into a hook. 

 Holes are made in the neck, through which a piece of stout tarred 

 marline or other cord is passed, also two small holes, two inches 

 apart, are made in the back, opposite the entrance, through which 

 another cord is passed. The top cord is used for suspending the 

 gourd from a branch, and the lower one is to prevent the gourd 

 from swaying too much in a stiff breeze. Two or three quarter-inch 

 holes bored in the bottom will serve for drainage, the shape of 

 the calabash being such that more or less water runs inside during 

 rain storms. Calabashes have been used with considerable success 

 as nesting-boxes in one or more towns in New York State; but 

 for New England and other sections of the country in the same 

 latitude, a nesting-box constructed of boards will withstand the 

 wear and tear of the elements far better, as the calabash is rather 

 fragile, and often lasts but one season. In the South their saving 

 grace is minimum cost and ease of production in quantities. 



Nesting-boxes have run the gamut, from tomato cans to elabo- 

 rate affairs, with roofs of burnished copper, and the manufacturer 

 of bird houses has entered the field with his wares. Many manu- 

 factured commodities that are displayed in the shops come from over 

 seas, and the first nesting-boxes constructed on scientific lines, of- 

 fered for sale in this country, bore the mark "Made in Germany." 



[21] 



