THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 387 
always openings left for the birds to enter. The rafters 
were round or rough-hewn timbers, on which they could 
find points of attachment for their nests. Most barns now 
built are closely boarded and battened, clapboarded or 
shingled ‘to the ground. No entrance hole is left for the 
birds. The timbers are sawn so smoothly that the birds, 
if they get in, can find no safe attachment for their nests. 
Even where the eaves project so as to give sufficient shelter 
for Swallows, the mud with which they build their nests 
will not stick to the planed and painted boards. 
Let every farmer having such a barn cut an ornamental 
opening at least a foot wide in each gable, leaving it open 
all summer, so that the Swallows may fly in; or, better still, 
cut an opening three or four feet long over the barn door, 
through which Swallows can go at will. Let him nail rough 
cleats horizontally on some of the rafters, or put up little 
bracket shelves thereon; and let each farmer having a barn 
with wide, projecting eaves put up a long shelf, cleat, or 
joist on the side of the barn within a foot of the eaves, for 
the Eaves Swallows; and we may in time have more Swal- 
lows than ever before, provided care is taken to shoot ma- 
rauding English Sparrows. If we had more Swallows and 
Pheebes we should have fewer flies, mosquitoes, and garden 
pests. 
The Chimney Swifts have been driven away by the con- 
struction of modern chimneys, and destroyed by unseason- 
able storms. They still nest in the large chimneys of the 
older houses. A box made of boards planed on the out- 
side may be built of the size and shape of an old-fashioned 
chimney, with similar divisions, and firmly fastened upon 
the roof of a building, to attract the Swifts. It is not nec- 
essary that it be high, or even that it be upon the top of a 
building ; but it should be out of reach of cats. Possibly a 
few thin, wooden cleats nailed horizontally inside will assist 
the birds. By means of a door in such a structure, and an 
arrangement of mirrors, the habits of these interesting birds 
may be studied. 
The Pheebe prefers a roof over its head, such as is some- 
times furnished by the upturned roots of a large tree, a 
