38 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
can help in the cause of bird protection 
by discouraging this lawless shooting and 
by feeding the quail when the snow is 
too' deep, making it impossible for them 
to forage for themselves. 
Have you ever walked through the 
woods in the middle of winter and sud¬ 
denly come upon a myriad of tiny marks 
in the snow? The tracks of a bevy of 
quail makes the snow look almost like a 
delicate lace curtain. You follow the lit¬ 
tle foot prints for a short distance—then 
a “whir-r-r"! And almost from under 
your feet the chubby bob whites spring 
into the air. By feeding them and pro¬ 
tecting them it is easy to cultivate their 
friendship. If you have a flock near 
your home, they will be a constant source 
of pleasure. Their shrill call, "Bob- 
White/' resounds from early morning to 
dusk. Write what you know of this 
bird. Or, if you are not well acquainted 
with him, tell us your experiences with 
any of our winter residents. 
My Experience with Martins. 
In all the articles on the purple mar¬ 
tin, that I have read, I have not run 
across one article which states that the 
martins are common in Minnesota. 
They may not be in all parts but are quite 
common in my vicinity, nearly every 
farm house having its martin box. I 
have worked and have been rewarded 
for my efforts by establishing a colony 
of martins. When the first house was 
built I thought I ought to give them 
plenty of room. Therefore I made the 
rooms about one foot square and ten 
inches high. That year I had no mar¬ 
tins, and thought it was on account of 
the rough way in which the house was 
constructed. 
The second year my father made a 
house—and I am sure he did his best— 
all to no account. It was made as the 
first in giving them plenty of room but 
was much more beautiful in structure, 
having cornices, porches and beautifully 
shaped windows; but it did not serve the 
purpose—much to my disappointment. 
The third year I contracted another, 
which contained six rooms, the floor 
rooms measuring about four by five 
inches; the attic rooms were consider¬ 
ably larger. As a result I had two 
pairs, both nesting in the attic rooms. 
So, by watching carefully, I decided that 
the floor rooms wene too small. The 
fourth year, that being 1910, I built an¬ 
other, making the rooms six by six by 
eio'ht inches. The house seemed to suit 
the birds better, as seven out of the ten 
rooms were occupied. The first bird to 
arrive was a male, about the fifteenth of 
April, which seemed to be well satisfied 
with the house. It returned in a short 
time with a mate. Nesting began about 
the middle of May; and the birds were 
busy in the earlier part of the day carry¬ 
ing material to build their nest, which 
consisted of straw, rags, paper, and a 
large quantity of mud. Soon more mar¬ 
tins arrived; but the first seemed to drive 
the newcomers away for some unknown 
reason. In a short time he became peace¬ 
able and was soon but one of the seven 
lords of the house. One pair (the male 
being an immature bird) claimed all the 
rooms on one side of the house, building 
two nests on the first floor, and one on 
the second. But finally they decided to 
take up their abode on the second floor. 
I may ask the question here about house 
wrens destroying the eggs of the mar¬ 
tins. One day while I was watching the 
birds I noticed a house wren entering 
the martin house. It soon began de- | 
stroying the eggs ; but the female martin 
returned and drove the enemy away, j 
The eggs were replaced for the nest later j 
contained young. When the parent 
birds returned with a mouthful of in- 
