66 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
be attached to a board surface, two 
circular beveled cleats can be placed close 
against the pot and nailed to the boards. 
A hanging bird house can be constueted 
of a nine-inch flower pot and an old milk 
pan. A hole is made in the bottom of 
the pot and pan, large enough for a 
turned picket or round stick to pass 
through, so as to allow for the fastening 
of the straw which is to form the thatched 
roof. A small hole is bored through 
the picket into which a cross-pin of 
either iron or wood is inserted. On this 
pin the bottom of the pan rests, other¬ 
wise it would slide down the picket. 
The sides of the milk pan are punched 
full of holes to allow the plaster to pass 
through and clinch, as it will not adhere 
to the smooth surface of the tin. 
The pan is to be filled with earth in 
which may be planted “German Ivy” or 
“Moneywort,” which will droop over and 
twine in the branches of the “cat screen.” 
Some of the more hardy succulent plants 
such as house leeks, “Creeping Charley” 
etc., do well in dry locations. This bird 
house can also be fastened to a standing 
pole when it is not desired to suspend it. 
The cat screen is intended to prevent cats 
from climbing up the pole, and to break 
the otherwise stiff' and ungraceful lines 
and as a trellis for vines to entwine on 
after having climbed or been trained up 
the standard pole. The “cat screen” is 
made from branches, which are firmly 
bound to the picket or standard pole 
some two feet below the bottom of the 
pan, against which they press and radiate 
out. 
Other graceful houses may be made by 
covering ordinary wooden boxes with the 
the rough bark taken from old oak logs. 
This can be neatly tacked onto a frame 
about the boxes so as to look like a 
section of a log. 
The trouble expended in making 
houses for our summer visitors will not 
be wasted. They will amply repay by 
their sweet and happy songs, their bright 
and interesting ways and their more im¬ 
portant services as insect destroyers; anv 
effort which we may put forth to show 
them that we are their friends and to 
bring them close to us. 
Two years ago we cut some holes in 
some tin cans, painted them a dark green 
and nailed them to fence postsv One was 
taken possession of by a pair of English 
Sparrows the hole being large enough 
for the sparrows to enter, however 
the wrens were not to be ousted; 
they carried some long twigs letting the 
ends radiate from the hole and the other 
ends were embedded in their nesting ma¬ 
terial on the inside, thus the hole was 
filled up just so the w r rens could enter 
and the sparrows could not. The w T rens 
raised their brood unmolested bv the 
sparrows. 
Birds as Seed Carriers. 
According to a scientist attached to 
one of the Government bureaus at Wash¬ 
ington, birds evince a surprising inclina¬ 
tion to act as seed carriers in various 
quarters of the world. 
Two centuries ago the Dutch destroyed 
every nutmeg tree in the Moluccas in 
order to enjoy a monopoly of the busi¬ 
ness, having planted the trees in their 
own possessions. In spite of their most 
earnest efforts, however, the islands were 
constantly being restocked. For a long 
time the thing was a mystery, but at 
length it was solved. 
The doves of that quarter of the globe 
