THE GARDEN AND ITS ACCESSORIES 



Bluebirds and the small purple martins 

 take very kindly to this sort of a home, and 

 when they have once taken possession are 

 not to be turned out by the unfriendly 

 English sparrows. The martins and spar- 

 rows often have strenuous fights, but the 

 former invariably come out the winners ; 

 possibly because they take to nesting 

 earlier in the season than the sparrows, 

 and being already in possession fight all 

 the harder to protect their homes. Every 

 year these little birds can be counted on to 

 come to the suburbs about Boston between 

 the tenth and fifteenth of April, no matter 

 whether the season is backward or forward. 



A dove-cote is also a type of bird-house 

 that is most interesting in a garden. The 

 illustration on page 137 shows one that 

 is a charming feature in a typical Ameri- 

 can garden in Cohasset, Massachusetts. 

 Mounted on a simple column of field stone 

 it stands at one end of the garden in a 

 126 



