MAKING SURROUNDINGS ATTRACTIVE 245 



branches or shoots to start in bunches or whorls, which make 

 firm and secure foundations for nests. The birds on the 

 estate which construct open nests usually choose these sites. 

 This could be done readily on a small scale with bushes or 

 clumps of shrubbery. The various thorn bushes are pre- 

 ferred for this purpose, because the thorns help to repel 

 enemies of the birds, especially the white thorn, also horn- 

 beain, beech, dog rose, various gooseberry bushes, privet, 

 also red cedar and Norway spruce, and others. 



Lopping Trees. Another similar plan followed is the 

 lopping off of branches from the trunks of trees, and allow- 

 ing clusters of shoots to grow out, which creates excellent 

 sites for nests. On the estate are large rows or avenues of 

 poplars treated in this fashion. I have myself noticed in 

 our Western prairie regions, where there were strips of 

 timber along streams, how fond the mourning doves, robins, 

 grackles, and other species were of nesting where the 

 sprouts grew out from the trunks of the box elders or other 

 trees, usually 6 to 12 feet from the ground. 



Tying Bushes. Still another device which is adopted, 

 and one which is much more speedy, is the tying together 

 of branches of a bush, so as to form above the point of junc- 

 tion a diverging cluster or whorl, making foundations for 

 nests similar to those formed by pruning. The Baron used 

 these only as a makeshift while the pruned whorls were 

 growing. It is stated that out of fifty such tyings made the 

 first year, forty-seven were occupied with nests that season. 



Precautions. The following precautions were also ob- 

 served: Fallen leaves must be left on the ground, as birds 

 find food under them and are warned by rustling of hostile 

 approach. Experiments showed that birds noticeably 

 avoided places which were carefully raked. Working oper- 

 ations, wood cutting, and grazing of cattle should be dis- 



