nd bird house literature

Index 59

BIRDS THAT LIVE IN NESTING BOXES.

Certain varieties of birds will nest in homes built for them if these
houses are of the right shape and dimensions. Other birds may be just
as desirable but do not build nests and rear their young in boy-made
nesting boxes. We are therefore mainly concerned with the first group
which select cavities in trees for their homes if nothing better is to
be found.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. BLUE BIRDS, ADULTS AND YOUNG BIRD.]

BLUEBIRD.

This bird may be found during the summer months in most of the states
east of the Rocky Mountains, Figs. 1 and 59. It spends its winter in
the southern states and southward, returning north in March and April.
The principal items of food are grasshoppers, caterpillars and
beetles. It should have a house measuring about 5" in length and
width, inside measurements, and 8" or more in depth. The entrance hole
should be 1-1/2" in diameter and placed near the top, so that the
young birds cannot get out until strong enough to have some chance of
escape from their enemies after they leave the nest. While authorities
differ as to the need of cleaning after a season's use, it seems wise
to provide the house with some device whereby the bottom may be
removed for such purposes. Houses for this species are shown in Figs.
11, 21, 22 and 24.

[Illustration: FIG. 2. (ROBIN)]

ROBIN.

Robins usually announce the coming of spring when they return to their
breeding grounds in the northern states, where they are general
favorites. Figs. 2 and 60. The nest is usually built of mud and lined
with grasses; placed in the fork of a tree or on some sheltered ledge.
Robins take kindly to nesting shelves put up for them and it is well
to put up several since but one brood is reared in each nest built.
This old nest should be removed after the young birds have gone. A
simple shelf is shown in the lower left hand corner of the photograph,
Fig. 24, as well as in Figs. 20 and 49.

[Illustration: FIG. 3. (CHICKADEES)]

CHICKADEE.

The chickadee is one of the brave little spirits who spends the entire
winter with us, Fig. 3. We can be of considerable service to him
during the cold weather by providing food shelters. During the summer
months his home is usually found in some decaying stump, hence
nesting boxes of the rustic type placed in some remote spot of the
orchard or park are