Nest- Box Notes 



19 



sun. An irregular opening was cut in the 

 side of the log. It was, of course, larger 

 than the one in the small log, measuring 

 about 4x2/^ inches. A pair of Tufted 

 Titmice were the first occupants. They 

 reared a brood of five. 



This was an interesting family of birds. 

 By gradual advances I succeeded in taming 

 the parents so that they would fly in at the 

 entrance as I sat on a near-by branch of 

 the tree, — so near, in fact, that my knee was 

 less than a foot below the log entrance and 

 the parents were obliged to fly directly over 

 it. I often remained motionless at a yard's 

 distance from the nest entrance and thus 

 secured considerable data on feeding habits. 

 A few days before the Titmouse family left 

 the log a pair of Crested Flycatchers began 

 to investigate about the log and remained 

 in its vicinity much of the day. It seemed 

 as if they had made an agreement with the 

 Titmice about the length of their occupancy 

 and had now come to see that they moved 

 out. Be that as it may, the Titmice left on 

 the afternoon of May 27, and on the 

 morning of June i, the Flycatchers began 

 to move their furniture in the log. This 

 consisted of chicken feathers, green weeds 

 and snake-skins. An interesting brood was 

 reared that spring, and the next spring 

 (1904), a pair of Crested Flycatchers (pre- 

 sumably the same ones) again reared their 

 young in the log. 



For Bluebirds I have tried another device. 

 I cut circular holes in the sides of two tin 

 coffee cans and mounted them on a pole, 

 only about two inches apart. That was a 

 mistake, for a rough-and-tumble fight 

 ensued when two pairs of Bluebirds tried 

 to build in such close proximity. One pair 

 was driven away by the other. This last 

 pair reared two broods. It is evident that 

 such birds as have built in my bird-houses 

 are of great value in the orchard. Nearly 

 all feeding was done in the orchard, and 

 the food consisted, as far as I know, of 

 insect diet. I observed the Titmice several 

 days, and during that time saw nothing but 

 insect food given the nestlings. I was 

 watching at very close range, too. Grass- 

 hoppers, hmar moths, green beetles, green 

 bugs, and dragonflies were part of the 



Flycatcher's diet. — Ernest Seeman, Dur- 

 ham, N. C. 



A Wren House Which Should not 

 Lack a Tenant 



It is made of strips of bark and sur- 

 rounded by twining branches of old grape- 

 vine, and it contains two compartments, 

 each with one opening. By another sum- 

 mer the clematis vine, which has been 

 planted about it, will partially conceal it, 

 thus affording a most natural setting. — 

 J. Fletcher Street, Bet'erly, N. J. 



