EVERY GOLF COURSE A BIRD SANCTUARY 



NESTING BOXES 



One of the most widely employed methods for attracting birds is the erect- 

 ing of boxes in which they may build their nests. Bluebirds, Wrens, Tree Swal- 

 lows, Chickadees and many others will flock about the Club-house, the caddie- 

 house, the barn, the tool houses and the shelters when nest-boxes are provided, 

 though the majority of the birds, perhaps, will nest in the rough along the 

 fairways. 



Most North American birds build open nests in trees, in bushes, or on the 

 ground in the fields. A certain number, however, in every community resort to 

 holes in trees for the purpose of nest-building. Woodpeckers, as a rule, dig their 

 nests in dead trees or posts and Nuthatches and Chickadees resort to knot- 

 holes or decaying stumps for the same purpose. Others, like Wrens and Blue- 

 birds, must find some abandoned Woodpecker's hole or the hollow in a tree, as 

 their bills are not constructed for chipping away the wood. Nesting boxes, 

 therefore, are useful to hole-nesting species that cannot construct their own 

 habitations. On many estates and Golf-properties it is customary to cut away 

 dead limbs and fill holes in trees with cement. Many birds thus driven away 

 will quickly return if suitable nesting-boxes are supplied. 



A box on a tree or post or one of the buildings, providing the typical Wood- 

 pecker's cavity, is an ideal nesting place. The entrance should always be well 

 above the bottom. Except for the purpose of preservation against the weather, 

 or for the sake of appearance, there is little need for external decoration. Birds 

 in the wilderness are not accustomed to finding holes in receptacles with a piano 

 polish and decorated with bright colors. 



As a rule there is no need of putting any nesting material in a bird-box. The 

 birds will attend to that. The only exception is in the case of boxes intended 

 for Flickers, Sparrow Hawks or Screech Owls. These species never build nests 

 and, to keep the eggs from rolling hopelessly about in the bottom, an inch of 

 sawdust adds to the value and usefulness of the box. 



Certain simple rules are to be observed in the erection of bird-boxes. Do not 

 nail one to a tree up among the limbs. Fasten it to the trunk well down where it 

 may readily be seen. Boxes may be either fastened to a tree, suspended from a 

 lower limb, placed on the post of shelters, or put on a metal post in the open, 

 five to twelve feet from the ground. 



It is well to have bird-boxes constructed in such a manner that they may be 

 removed for the purpose of house cleaning. Those not used by birds are fre- 



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