20 



Bird - Lore 



A Tree Swallow Home 



The notice in December Bird-Lore that 

 the next issue would be largely devoted to 

 bird-houses tempted me to send you the 

 enclosed photograph of a Tree Swallow's 

 nest on a rose trellis in front of my barn. 

 The handsome little pair moved in May 14, 



A TREE SWALLOW HOME 



1904, raised a brood, and left July 6. They 

 were very tame and decidedly attentive to 

 €ach other during their stay. The male 

 spent a large part of his spare time perched 

 on a telephone wire a short distance from 

 the nest, within sight and easy call of his 

 mate. They had a few tilts with a pair of 



Bluebirds, who occupied another similar 

 tenement a short distance away, and who, 

 for a time, seemed not to desire the Swal- 

 lows for neighbors but finally decided to 

 bury the hatchet and let them remain. 



We took great pleasure in watching them 

 soar gracefully about, catching food and 

 feeding their young. The little house 

 stands ready for them next season, and we 

 shall be on the lookout, hoping they will 

 return. — W. H. Phillips, Brattleboro, Vt. 



From the Catskills 



As Bird-Lore invites us to send notes 

 about bird -houses, I venture to suggest that 

 one side of each house be made so that it 

 can slide out. We have found that very 

 important, as they need to be emptied and 

 cleaned in the autumn, after the birds have 

 left them — so that they will be ready for 

 spring use. Especially is this true when 

 Wrens occupy them, as their building ma- 

 terial is so profuse ; if the sticks, etc., are 

 left to accumulate, the young birds may be 

 suffocated. 



Another suggestion would be, to place 

 the bird-house on a post in an open space ; 

 out of the way of cats, and also of chip- 

 munks — who have been known to raise their 

 families in bird-houses that were placed in 

 trees. The posts to be painted green, and 

 the part that is sunk in the ground to be 

 tarred, for preservation. 



We had discs of tin placed around some 

 of our bird-houses that were not near our 

 home ; but perhaps the mountain red 

 squirrels are greater athletes than squirrels 

 generally, for they overcame all difficulties 

 and perseveringly lived there. — Henrietta 

 Haines Doremus King. 



Unique Martin Boxes 



I might mention a unique Bird- House 

 used by a store-keeper at a little town in the 

 southern part of Greene County, Pennsyl- 

 vania. He has two or three candy-buckets 

 made into Bird-Houses, and hung on a wire 

 stretched from his store to his warehouse. 

 He has quite a colony of Martins nesting in 

 these swaying 'castles,' and states that the 

 Sparrows do not disturb them. — J. Warren 

 Jacobs, Waynesburg, Pa. 



