Many Varieties of Birds Attracted to a Small Space 
The Reason for this Book 
LOVE BIRDS—that is the reason for this little book, and everything here 
set down is explained by that—I love the birds. Birds have made my life 
happier, and I want them to exert the same inspiring influence on others as 
they have on me. Make friends with our native birds—that is my mes¬ 
sage- The birds richly repay you for the trouble you take in attracting them 
and looking out for their interests. 
In this booklet I am going to tell you how to attract and win birds so that the 
same families will return to you every year. I have done this at my former home 
in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, at my farm in Michigan, at my winter home 
on the Isle of Pines, and at my beautiful home, Bird Lodge, here at Kankakee, 
which is just fifty miles south of Chicago, on the banks of the Kankakee River. 
Many who have only a little patch of city garden have induced song birds to 
live with them by putting up Dodson Bird Houses. This is a greater achievement 
than helping the rich men who have many acres. The blessed little birds make 
no distinction between rich and poor. 
No Place Too Small 
The illustration above shows how many bird 
houses can be put in a small space, and yet be occu¬ 
pied by many varieties of birds. In the fifty feet 
square, shown in this illustration, there lived in 
peaceful contentment families of the Wren, Blue¬ 
bird, Great Crested Fly Catcher, Tree Swallow, 
Oriole, and a large colony of Purple Martins. 
The building of bird houses has been a hobby of 
mine for many years, and never has been run 
solely for profit. I think you will agree with me 
that in the end, it is a great work for good. My own 
work is in financial affairs and yet there is no success 
in my life that I value higher than my success as an 
architect for birds. 
I tell you this because I want you, as you read 
my talks about bird houses, to realize that my first 
interest is always for the birds and bird-loving men Mrs. Dodson and 
and women, not merely to sell my own devices. Dodson Sheltered Food House 
