124 



THE CONDOR 



Vol,. IX 



ing I saw four huddled in one of my bird-boxes. During the hard days of rain 

 and snow they were continually together and returned at night to stay in the box. 

 I think they were partly drawn to return each day by the food I put out. When I 

 first saw them in the back yard, I tossed a worm out of the window and it had 

 hardly struck the ground when it was snapped up. They ate half a cupful of worms. 

 The bluebird, the wren and the swallow have taken remarkably to civilization. 



They formerly built in 

 holes in old trees in the 

 midst of the woods, but now 

 they prefer a house in the 

 back yard. In one locality 

 near my home we used to 

 find the bluebirds nesting 

 every year in some old stumps. 

 Now several residences have 

 been built nearby and in 

 three of the yards there are 

 bird-boxes, and the bluebirds 

 have abandoned the stumps 

 and taken to modern homes. 

 A bluebird has better pro- 

 tection in a back yard and he 

 knows it. Then if the own- 

 ers like him, he grows fond 

 enough of them to perch on 

 the hand, and he pays rent in 

 the quality of his song and by 

 ridding trees of harmful 

 worms. 



Altho the bluebird often 

 lives about the city, I asso- 

 ciate him with country life. I 

 imagine he likes a farm home 

 better than a city flat. I have 

 a friend in the country who 

 has bird -boxes up in various 

 places about his farm. Most 

 of them find occupants every 

 year. An old square box 

 that is set in the crotch of an 

 apple tree is ahead in the 

 record. This box was put up 

 in the spring of 1897 and was 

 taken by a pair of bluebirds. 

 It is only four feet from the 

 ground and has a removable 

 top so that the owner may readily make friends with the tenants. When I 

 opened the box and looked in, the mother sat quietly on her eggs and was tame 

 enough to allow us to stroke her feathers. 



The box is now covered with moss and lichens, but it is famous in bluebird 

 history. It has been occupied every year since it was put up, and not a single 



A MOSS-COVERED BIRD-BOX IN THE ORCHARD, OCCUPIED 



BY BLUEBIRDS SINCE 1897; OVER HO YOUNG HAVE 



BEEN HATCHED HERE 



