ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 29 



be considerably roughened or grooved both inside and out to give the birds 

 a chance to climb in and out. Projecting bottom boards and perches must 

 be entirely omitted. They offer foothold to bird enemies, enabling them 

 to annoy and drive away rightful tenant. The bottom board should be 

 perforated with gimlet holes for drainage from entering rains. The en- 

 trance, carefully corresponding in size to the size of the box, may be 

 encircled with a zinc collar to prevent woodpeckers and squirrels from 

 enlarging the opening. A hinged roof, fastened with a small hook, will 

 be found a great convenience. It greatly facilitates ejecting undesirable 

 tenants, bird enemies, cleaning out old nests or nest photography. A hinged 

 roof is not desirable where boxes are exposed to public abuse and covers 

 fastened down with screws or dummy nails should be given the preference. 

 The merits of the many substitutes used in place of lumber, such as 

 cigar boxes, gourds, jugs, tin cans; tarpaper, flower pots, will not be dis- 

 cussed here. They are make-shifts at the best, tho they often serve their 

 purpose. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and greater enjoy- 

 ment is commensurate with greater effort. Farmers Bulletin No. 609 

 'Bird Houses and how to build them" publishes a practical list of the 

 various boxes with full dimensions of house, size of entrance and distance 

 to be placed from the ground. 



By applying the fundamental principles of construction, as outlined 

 above, one cannot go wrong in providing a simple, practical home for his 

 bird friends. The size of the wren house, as given above, is somewhat 

 large ; a box 4x6 will be found more than sufficient. It matters little if 

 the box is made vertical or horizontal, the bird's nest will always be found 

 farthest from the entrance. Any one who has w-atched the tiny bird in 

 its endlessly tedious task carrying in the material for the nest foundation, 

 only to be confronted with the alternative of seeking a new home or 

 cleaning out the old for its second brood, will gladly remember to build 

 large enough but not too large. 



As much depends upon proper placing of a bird house as upon proper 

 construction. The greatest error is made in placing too many boxes for 

 a given area, which always sets the bird to quarreling, excepting the com- 

 panionable swallows and martins. Boxes for a certain species are best 

 placed at least one hundred feet apart. Dense woods and trees are gen- 

 erally to be avoided. A tree trunk is a highway of travel for flying squir- 

 rels, chipmunks, squirrels and cats. However, boxes suspended from a 

 limb by a wire overcomes this objection and homes for w r rens, nuthatches, 

 chickadees and woodpeckers may be placed about shade trees and orchards. 

 Extensive experiments have clearly demonstrated that nesting boxes placed 

 on poles are preferred by the birds. These poles may be cat and squirrel 

 proofed by a two foot strip of galvanized tin, six feet above the ground. 

 Pergolas, porch pillars and buildings often offer desirable and safe loca- 

 tion for bird boxes. The entrance of the box should be placed opposite 

 to that of the prevailing winds, which in Illinois are mostly from the 

 south west. 



Equal in importance to proper construction, dimension and placing of 

 a bird house is the strictest vigilance over its occupant. Close observa- 

 tions and bi-monthly examinations will often reveal such tenants as mice, 

 chipmunk, flying squirrel, squirrel or English sparrow. These bird enemies 

 are responsible for the greatest part of all failures in successfully attract- 



