28 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 198 



Fly Catchers, Swifts, Night-Hawks and Humming Birds: 

 All of these are valuable. Most of them catch their food while fly- 

 ing through the air. Over 93 percent of the food of the Phoebe or 

 Pewee consists of insects, the Kingbird includes 90 percent of in- 

 sects in its menu, and the percentages eaten by the Night-Haivk and 

 the Whip-poor-will are very similar. 



Shrikes, Swallows, ^Vaxwings and Tanagers: The Shrikes 

 are valuable as mouse-killers and, while they butcher some beneficial 

 birds, their beneficial qualities are estimated by good authorities to 

 outway four to one their injurious ones. All the Swallows are bene- 

 ficial. The Purple Martin is especially valuable, and will nest in 

 boxes provided for it near human dwellings. The Waxv(^ings or 

 Cedar Birds are valuable, on the whole, though they sometimes eat 

 cultivated fiuits. The Tangers eat both insects and fruit, chiefly 

 wild berries. 



HOW TO ATTRACT THE BIRDS. 



In Spring far-reaching plans, which look a decade or more into 

 the future for their full consumation, may bslaid for the encourage- 

 ment of bird increase. Plant here and there over the farm, near 

 the house and near the orchard, clumps of trees from one-eighth to 

 one-fourth acre in extent, consisting of evergreens, pines, spruces, 

 firs and hardwoods intermingled. These will furnish winter 

 retreats and summer nesting places. Scatter among such clumps, 

 and also at other points on the farm, such trees as the Russian mul- 

 berry and the choke cherry to supply enticing food for the birds. 

 Other trees, shrubs and vines, the fruit of which is inviting to birds 

 are Juneberry, dogwood, mountain ash, juniper, hawthorn, elder, 

 viburnum, barberry, wild plum, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, vnld 

 grape, catbrier, sumach, hackberry, shad-bush, honey-suckle, wax 

 myrtle, etc. Plant a variety of these so as to furnish a succession 

 of ripened berries for all periods of the year. Also a variety is need- 

 ed to encourage nesting. Certain species prefer particular kinds of 

 trees for nesting. Thus, the Baltimore orioles prefer elms; the 

 goldfinch, and the warbling vireo, maples; the brown thrasher and 

 catbird, thorny tangles of shrubbery, etc. 



In the spring, before the summer rush of work comes on, is also 

 a convenient time to put up a goodly number of bird houses about 

 the farmstead, in the woods, and in the orchard. The floor space for 

 these houses should be about 6x6 inches, and several such compart- 

 ments may be bunched together into a colony house or ''tenement" 

 for such birds as martins, tree swallows, and pigeons. The door- 

 way should never be made larger than necessary to admit the bird. 

 Make a perch or doorstep below each door. A wooden pin driven 



