Bird Houses and How to Build Them 



By Ned Dearborn 



Birds may be gathered about us in all seasons of the year with ease and 

 certainty merely by offering what they desire. In winter they are often pushed 

 for food, and if we supply this need they will report daily at the lunch counter 

 and help relieve the tedium of our indoor life. In summer they care less for 

 food provided by their human friends, and other means must be sought to at- 

 tract them about the home. They appreciate fresh water for bathing and drink- 

 ing. A shallow pool of varying depth, if only a foot across, becomes on hot 

 days a center of attraction for all the birds in the vicinity, and it may be made 

 with little effort and material ; only a small amount of cement is required, or, 

 if that be lacking, a pan with stones in it set in the ground will be equally serv- 

 iceable. Trees, shrubs, and vines bearing fruit relished by birds are great at- 

 tractions in their season. 



Birds are desirable about premises not only on account of their beauty and 

 song, but because of their economic worth. They are especially useful as in- 

 sect destroyers during the breeding period, when they have to work early and 

 late to obtain sufficient food for their nestlings, and their movements at this 

 time are more interesting than during any other season. There is, therefore, a 

 double purpose in offering them special nesting facilities. If mud is available, 

 swallows, robins, and phoebes will found and wall their nests with it. If we 

 put out feathers, bits of wool, or twine, a dozen different kinds of birds will 

 make use of them. If we furnish safe retreats in which they can rear their 

 young comfortably, most of them will be occupied. In fact no attraction for 

 summer birds is more effectual than a series of houses suited to the needs and 

 habits of the various kinds of house birds. 



A few years ago only four species were commonly regarded as house birds 

 — the house wren, the bluebird, the tree swallow, and the martin. Since the 

 movement to protect birds and make neighbors of them began, however, their 

 natures and needs have become better understood, and it is now known that 

 many other species will avail themselves of houses constructed for them by their 

 human friends. The practice of erecting bird houses in this country, while now 

 nation-wide, is not so common and uniformly distributed as it should be, and 

 more extended provisions of this nature cannot fail to result in a largely in- 

 creased number of house birds. 



HOUSE BIRDS INCREASING IN NUMBER. 



The habit of nesting in bird houses has been adopted hf individuals of 

 many species which would not ordinarily be expected to make use of such 

 homes, and this may be taken as indicating that it will become more general 

 from year to year as facilities are afforded and as the number of birds hatched 

 in houses increases. 



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