6 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
rich chocolate color, while the ceiling is done in buff. The 
rug and the draperies of the room are of a rich brown color, 
blending in handsomely with the general color scheme. 
The living-room is twenty-seven feet and nine inches by 
sixteen feet, and is provided with a small alcove, with a 
slightly elevated floor. It contains a built-in bookcase at 
one end, a window in the other and a built-in seat extending 
its entire length. As in the dining-room, the woodwork 
of the living-room is of Peruvian mahogany, and the walls 
and the ceiling are similarly tinted. 
Sliding glass doors separate the living-room from the 
den, which latter is on the front of the house, and French 
doors lead from the den into one end of the pergola 
veranda. An important feature of this room, size four- 
teen feet by fourteen feet, is a spacious fireplace of olive- 
green tile, with a built-in bookcase on each side, above which 
are two small windows. The woodwork is of dressed red- 
wood left in its natural color, and the walls are tinted a dull 
red, while the ceiling, which is beamed, is tinted a light 
cream color. Oak floors are used for every first floor room, 
except the kitchen. 
On the second-floor, the sun room occupies the same 
position as does the den on the first floor. ‘This room 
possesses a fireplace also, and is liberally provided with 
windows on three sides. Its woodwork is of Oregon pine, 
except a floor of oak. The four bedrooms, as well as the two 
bathrooms, are finished in white enamel, and are provided 
January, rgtI 
with numerous built-in closets, wardrobes and window seats. 
The most admirable features of the second-floor ar- 
rangement are the two sleeping balconies. ‘There is one, 
size thirteen feet three inches by sixteen feet one inch, on 
the north side, over one end of the dining-room, and one, 
size nine feet three inches by nine feet nine inches, on 
the south side over one corner of the living-room. ‘The 
balconies have canvas decked floors and are covered by 
roofs. Bannister railings of redwood poles extend along 
the unenclosed sides, and porch shades are provided which 
can be lowered in sections to regulate draughts. 
Although located in southern California, the house is 
substantially built throughout, and should withstand the 
weather of almost any climate. It is provided with furnace 
heating apparatus; the fireplaces being used only to give the 
rooms a cozy and cheerful appearance, and to suffice on 
chilly evenings when furnace heat is not essential. The 
den, which can be entirely closed, can always be sufficiently 
heated from the fireplace, however, and on winter even- 
ings it becomes the family living-room. 
From all points of view the house presents an attractive 
and home-like appearance. In a sense, it is of rustic archi- 
tecture, but it is far from being extremely so. It has been 
thoughtfully designed in every detail, and the creation en 
masse is harmonious and pleasingly effective. The Mil- 
waukee Building Company of Los Angeles, California, was 
the architect of the house. 
Economic Value of Wild Birds 
By H. A. Crafts 
bird farm near Hayward, Alameda 
County. Its first object is to breed game 
birds for the stocking of the forests, 
ranges and covers of the State, for the 
benefit of sportsmen; but it promises to 
have other and more far-reaching effects. 
The species at first to be propagated consists of pheas- 
ants, partridges, bob-whites and wild turkeys, but it is the 
intention of the State in time to breed song birds as well. 
As the State has an area of more than 153,000 square 
miles, and the bulk of this area being wild land, it may 
be plainly seen that the field is very large, and offers 
great possibilities in the line of bird culture. 
Next to the sportsmen the farmers of the State will be- 
come interested in the movement. In the first place it is 
the intention of the promoters of the scheme to have the 
game laws amended so as to permit the farmers to raise 
pheasants and other birds for commercial purposes. 
But far and away beyond this interest comes that of a 
possible conquest of the insect-pest evils that afflict the 
State. By reason of its mild and equable climate California 
is a very favorable field for the rapid increase of insect 
life, and the wild birds being scarce the injurious insects 
have in the past become a host, and have caused millions of 
dollars damages to the fruit growers. 
And in order to keep these insect pests under anything 
like reasonable control the State is obliged to maintain one 
of the most extensive horticultural quarantine departments 
in the world; to use vast amounts of sprays and fumigants 
and to maintain a parasitic system that is a wonder of 
modern industrial history. 
Yet, with all the repressive measures employed. the 
losses from insect-pests are very large annually, and the 
propagation of wild birds should be hailed by the farmers 
of the State as a hopeful sign for the future. 
Briefly, the bird farm is supported by funds derived 
from the State treasury, and is under the general supervi- 
sion of the State Game and Fish Commission. It consists 
at present of forty-two acres, but will soon be enlarged to 
one hundred. 
The breeding of young birds was begun last year, and it 
is expected that by another year the farm will be in a posi- 
tion to turn out from 4,000 to 8,000 annually. The young 
birds will be distributed over the State as evenly as possible, 
and will be given out to approved applicants, in bunches 
of fifty to one hundred. No applicant will be given any 
birds until his reliability has been established and not before 
he has pledged himself to care for and protect the fledg- 
lings previous to becoming established in their new abodes. 
The farm has been fitted up with necessary buildings, 
including superintendent’s residence, barn, water tank, etc., 
besides fifty pens in which to keep the breeding birds. 
The pheasants used for breeding purposes were all im- 
ported from Europe, and the bird that seems destined 
to become most popular in the State is the Hungarian pheas- 
ant. The wild turkeys used are obtained from Old Mexico 
and consist of two species, one a small kind, not much 
larger than a common grouse, and another of the ordinary 
size. 
The breeding females of the various species under care 
lay their eggs in the pens quite promiscuously, and the 
eggs are gathered by the keeper and placed under common 
hens for hatching. Of these hens the farm has a flock 
of 225, and they are of the white and Barred Plymouth 
Rock strains. 
After hatching, the chicks are allowed to run with their 
foster mothers for a period of two months. Then they 
