23 
Among the dwellings framed by birds 
In field or forest with nice care. 
Is none that with the little Wren’s 
In snugness may compare. 
And when for their abodes they seek 
An opportune recess. 
The hermit has no finer eye 
For shadowy quietness. 
— Wordsworth , The Wren's Nest. 
the boards in multiples of these numbers. Old weathered boards 
should be used, or, if painted, they should be made the color of an old 
tree trunk. A single opening near the top should be made, two inches 
in diameter for most birds ; although, for wrens and chickadees, one 
inch is sufficient and will serve to keep out the English sparrow, and 
for wrens they should be set in a shady place. 
Both wrens and chickadees are most valuable birds. Besides being 
a cheery songster and a most sprightly and fascinating fellow, the 
wren depends for practically his whole 
food supply upon the insects of our 
grounds and gardens. While wrens 
have become quite scarce of late years 
about our towns and cities, driven out 
probably by English sparrows, a few of 
the children in Worcester have reported 
them as occupying their bird houses, and, no doubt, we may soon have 
them common again if we supply plenty of sparrow-proof homes and 
get rid of the sparrows. Probably no bird possesses a higher economic 
value than the chickadee. All summer 
This poet, though he live apart, 
Moved by his hospitable heart. he feeds on insects and all winter on the 
Sped, when I passed his sylvan fort, 
To do the honors of his court eggs which they lav on the twigs and 
As fits a feathered lord of land ; 
Flew near, with soft wing grazed my bark and arOUlld the bllds of trees. Pro¬ 
hand. — Emerson , The Titmouse. 
fessor Forbush reports finding 5,500 eggs 
Further on w r e found what we were , 
chiefly looking for, a flock of lively of plant lice in the crop of a chickadee, 
little chickadees. . . . They . y . 
would light on our hands, inspect the this number representing what the bird 
pieces of crushed nut. knock off the 1 ,° 
ones that did not suit them, and finally had gathered for a single breakfast, 
fly off with one, usually the largest. 
—Floyd c. Noble, aged 14, Bird Lore, i. When heavy snow and, especially, sleet 
p. 58. 
covers the trees, be sure to see that your 
chickadees are provided with food. A 
fresh bone with marrow and meat on it, 
or a piece of suet fastened to the limb of 
a tree and kept free from ice from time 
Note also chapman’s The Legend of to time, may save dozens of these pre- 
the Salt, Bird Lore, Vol. I, p. 55. . . . . . 
cious little lives during a winter. Chick¬ 
adees are also one of our cheeriest and tamest birds and we could not 
have too many of them about our homes. 
For swallows every barn, and, I am tempted to say, house attic 
as well, should be provided with a hole high up in the gables, which 
On two occasions, chickadees have 
flown down and perched upon my 
hand. During the few seconds they 
remained there I became rigid with 
the emotion of this novel experience. 
It was a mark of confidence which 
seemed to initiate me into the ranks of 
woodland dwellers. 
— Chapman , Handbook, p. 390 
