Nesting -Boxes 



By EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH 



Illustrated by the author 



THERE is no better waj' to attract and protect several species of useful 

 birds than to put up nesting-boxes. Every family, rich or poor, that 

 lives in the country, can provide them. Old worn or waste materials 

 may be used if others cannot be procured : for the birds seem rather to prefer 

 weather-beaten lumber or rusty metal to that which is new, bright or 

 painted. 



Among my early recollections there comes to mind an 

 old, unpainted, weather-beaten New England farm-house, 

 the home of a poor farmer with many children. It stood 

 in the shade of a giant elm by the roadside, and high up 

 the rugged trunk of the old tree another home, a box 

 made of ancient shingles weather-stained and moss-grown, 

 was occupied by a family of Bluebirds. I noted every 

 detail of their airy castle, and on returning home secured 

 four old shingles and a piece of board from amongst the 

 kindling wood, and with a hatchet and saw a rouglf box, 

 like the accompanying cut, was made and put up in one of 

 our cherry trees. 



Soon a pair of Bluebirds came, and after that many 

 pairs nested in such boxes. The shingle box answers its 

 purpose fairly well if put up against the side of a building, or on a tall pole 

 or tree trunk, where the cat is not likely to climb. Any small box will do, 

 if it is nearly the right size and shape, but it will be better to have a piece 

 of thin board or shingle nailed fiat on the top and projecting a little on 

 all sides to make the roof tight and shed the rain. If the board projects 

 well out over the entrance hole, it will keep the rain 

 from driving in. In Massachusetts, where my experi- 

 ments have been made, it is best to have the entrance 

 to the box face the west. Those who cannot conve- 

 niently make or purchase boxes may use tomato cans, old 

 tinware, such as milk-cans, funnels, pails, cofifee-pots 

 or tea-pots. The worn-out funnel nailed to a piece 

 of old board serves to show one way in which such 

 contrivances may be put up. The board may be nailed 

 or screwed to a tree or the side of a barn. 



I have seen a Barn Swallow's nest built in a lard pail 

 which was used to stop a stove-pipe hole in the chim- 

 ney of a deserted house. If old tinware is used, it is best 

 to have it in trees where, being shaded by the leaves, it 



(5) 



THE SHINGLE BOX 



A. NEW USE FOR AN 

 OLD FUNNEL 



