Bird- Lore 



HOLLOW LIMB BOX 



will not be heated by the sun's rays. There should be a few small 

 holes in the bottom of each pot or can, so that, should the rain happen to 

 drive in, it may run out. There never should be an uncovered hole in the 

 top. If a lard pail is used, it must have a cover to keep 

 out the rain and a hole must be cut in one side for an 

 entrance. Tree pruning is a chief cause of the scarcity 

 of certain birds in some localities. When hollow limbs 

 are cut off they may be cut up into sections and each 

 section roofed, bored and mounted in such a way as to 

 make two or more nesting-places out of one. 



A handsome and durable box may be made of bark. 

 This style of box is one of Mr. William Brewster's 

 ingenious inventions, and is yet untried; but I have 

 made a considerable number of them 

 and see no reason why they will not be 

 serviceable. Old tin utensils may be 

 useful to the farmer to put up in his 

 orchard, but they are not ornamental 

 and so should be placed in trees where they will be hidden 

 by the foliage; but the bark box is novel, useful, neat, 

 and also decorative in a rustic way. 



The birch boxes must be made late in June, when the 

 bark will peel readily. A small tree can be cut down and 

 cut into sections long enough for boxes. Each box is 

 made by peeling off both outer and inner bark, then saw- 

 ing a slice off each end of the stick for the bottom and 

 top, tacking the bark on the ends, nailing on the support- 

 ing stick, and then covering the top with the green bark from a young 

 pine, to make it water-tight. 



These small boxes are suitable for the Chickadee, 

 The bark of the chestnut makes strong and durable 

 boxes, which may be covered or roofed with zinc, for 

 the larger birds. 



The cat and the English Sparrow are the chief 

 enemies of the native birds about our villages and cities. 

 An objection to many bird" houses is that they are not 

 cat -proof. When my first shingle box had been up 

 three or four weeks the family cat was found, one day, 

 hanging on it and clawing out the young birds. Later 

 a box which seemed to be cat -proof was devised for 

 Bluebirds. It was very deep with an overhanging cover 

 or roof, no perch, and the entrance hole well up under 



BOX FOR BLUEBIRDS . . . . . . . 



OR CHICKADEES the eaves. This makes it difficult, if not impossible. 



THE BIRCH 

 BARK BOX 



