BIRD STUDY 311 



like crotches in which to build their nests. Elms are re- 

 garded with special favor by orioles. Evergreens are 

 general favorites, affording nesting, feeding and roosting 

 places for a great variety of birds. Clumps of shrubs in the 

 corner of yards or gardens are not only beautiful in them- 

 selves, but serve as nesting places for at least half a dozen 

 different species. 



For birds that build in cavities, boxes and other recepta- 

 cles may be prepared with little trouble. Any boy or girl 

 who knows how to use a saw, a hammer, and nails can 

 make a birdhouse. It is not necessary to have it fancy or 

 elaborate, only comfortable and roomy. Indeed, a wren 

 or chickadee will often choose a plain, inconspicuous cigar 

 or starch box in preference to a modern apartment house 

 painted up in bright colors. There is nothing better for 

 birdhouses than old weathered boards. These should be 

 left unpainted. If new boards are used they should be 

 painted a dull, dark green or a barklike gray. The 

 entrance for wrens and chickadees should not be more than 

 an inch in diameter; the size of a quarter dollar is a good 

 size. This is large enough to admit the wren, but too 

 small to allow an English sparrow to slip in. For blue 

 birds and martins a two- inch hole is sufficient. Other 

 receptacles than boxes are often received with apparent 

 satisfaction. Old coffee and tea pots which are fastened 

 up in some trees of our garden have been occupied a num- 

 ber of years by wrens and bluebirds. 



Birds may often be induced to build near our homes by 

 providing them with suitable building material. Twine 

 strings of different colors hung upon the branches of trees 

 or some other accessible place usually prove a real bonanza 





