A BLUEBIRD FAMILY 



Clay Bird-Houses and Bird-Baths 



By ROBERT W. HEGNER 



With photographs from nature by the author 



A PROBLEM that greets us with the coming of each spring is 

 that of attracting the birds to our homes. One of the best magnets 

 is the artificial nesting site, or bird -house. The most common 

 bird-house birds are the Wrens and Bluebirds. Whenever possible, the 

 Bluebird will build in a deserted nest-hole of a Woodpecker or a weather- 

 worn cavity in a tree. The pair of Bluebirds in the illustration nested 

 in a cavity in a fence -post. They had five young almost ready to fly 

 when the photographs were made. 



Wrens nest in similar situations, but will build in bird -houses whenever 

 possible. 



The introduction of manual training and nature study into graded 

 schools has given a great opportunity to teach the value of birds by 

 means of the bird-houses made by the children. The children at the 

 School of Education of the University of Chicago studied carefully all 

 the kinds of birds that are known to nest in artificial sites, and then 



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