class="tbt tdr">33

A MARTIN HOUSE IN THE MEADOW, ABOUT ONE HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE HOUSE It is advisable not to place the Martin box too near the house, for the birds begin to chatter long before dawn, and will awaken the household.	MARTIN HOUSE IN THE HEN-YARD OCCUPIED BY TWENTY-FIVE PAIRS OF MARTINS IN 1914 AND 1915. The Martins are very efficient guardians of our chickens. I have often seen them drive the Hawks and Crows away. They hate Buzzards also.

I attribute our success primarily to shooting the Sparrows and driving all cats away, to putting up many boxes, to keeping fresh water handy at all times, etc. We did everything we could for the comfort of our birds; for instance, we put on twigs little pieces of the oil-paper that our butter was wrapped in, and we left mud in convenient places for the Martins. The Catbirds used the oil-paper for their nests, in fact, they used all kinds of scraps. Imagine the delight of the family when, on examining one of the Catbird’s nests in the autumn, we found one of the children’s hair-ribbons, and also a piece of an old dress of the baby!

A SCREECH OWL'S NEST This box was put up for Flickers in the winter of 1914. Flickers took possession in March, but were driven out by Sparrow Hawks. But the Sparrow Hawks were frightened away two weeks later by the too great prominence of the position. Later a pair of Screech Owls adopted it for their home. Last winter we took the box down and carried it to the barn, to serve as a model for making other boxes. On opening it we found a live owl inside.

A SPARROW HAWK’S NEST ON THE EDGE OF THE WOODS We had much difficulty in keeping red and flying squirrels out of the houses placed near the woods. In 1915 red squirrels drove out a pair of Flickers brooding in a box on the forest edge.

We had read a great deal about how tame birds become when they are protected, but were constantly amazed at the quickness with which they perceived the care taken of them. Perhaps the most remarkable nest was that of a Phœbe, which was built under the cornice of the piazza, within reach of my hand. We had a little school in the morning at the house, and ten children were continually running up and down the piazza, shouting at the top of their voices, but the Phœbe went on building her nest, then hatched her eggs and fed her young without fear, though she could see everyone and everyone could see her.

I was also surprised to find how friendly birds, even of the same species, can become. For instance, we had fourteen pairs of Wrens on a single acre, some of the nests being not more than fifteen feet apart. We also had Robins nesting only twelve yards apart. The Bluebirds, on the other hand, do not like each other and would not tolerate another pair of Bluebirds nearer than 100 yards.

A FLICKER WAS NESTING IN BOX AND DID NOT STIR, THOUGH THERE WERE FIVE CHILDREN IN THE TREE AND FOUR BELOW WHEN THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN. (June 7, 1914.)

AN APARTMENT HOUSE FOR WRENS When we started building houses, we did not realize that Wrens would not share a house with another pair of Wrens. This house has rooms for eighteen pairs of Wrens. The room on the left was occupied in 1913, 1914 and 1915, and all the other rooms were vacant. Note Wren on box.	A WREN HOUSE IN THE GARDEN Note the Wren on the perch. We had fourteen pairs of house Wrens nesting on one acre adjoining the house and barns in 1915. This is the largest number reported of Wrens living on one acre.

The first year we had no Flickers, but there was a pair nesting in an old apple tree on our neighbor’s property. During the winter the tree was blown down and our oldest son obtained permission to get it. He cut out the portion of the tree which contained the nest, cleaned out the hole, and then hung the nest in a dying cherry tree, as shown in our illustration. The nest was not more than ten yards from the house, but was taken possession of in 1914 and again in 1915.

The photographs illustrate some of our tenants. We are putting up this winter many more houses on the rest of the farm, as, up to this time, our efforts have been confined to the ten acres nearest the house.

A FLICKER'S NEST BOX ON AN APPLE TREE ONLY TWELVE YARDS FROM THE HOUSE AND BORDERING THE DRIVEWAY. In this same tree, also, a pair of Robins and a pair of Chipping Sparrows nested in 1915.

A BOX OCCUPIED BY FLICKERS AND WRENS When the Flickers came back the second year (1915), they tried to excavate a new door to their house, on the opposite side from that shown in the picture, but soon desisted, leaving a hole about 2 inches deep. Later a pair of Wrens built a nest in the new hole, so that in 1915 a brood of Flickers and a brood of house Wrens were living in the box at the same time. Note the Flicker’s head in the doorway.

We have already found the following birds nesting on some part of the 100 acres of field and woods: Flicker, Robin, Catbird, Bluebird, Orchard Oriole, House Wren, Purple Martin, Summer Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Chipping Sparrow, Phœbe, Barn Swallow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Whip-poor-will, Towhee, Indigo Bunting, Black-and-White Warbler, Song Sparrow, Meadowlark, Chat, Maryland Yellowthroat, Field Sparrow, Cardinal, Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Acadian Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Mourning Dove, Kingbird, Red-headed Woodpecker, Wood Pewee, Bob-white, Chickadee, Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Mockingbird, Goldfinch, Crow, Bluejay, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Barred Owl, Screech Owl, Sparrow Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Redstart, Yellow-throated Vireo, Cedarbird, Vesper Sparrow, Louisiana Water-thrush, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

We had, in 1915, seventy-five pairs of Martins in an area of approximately ten acres, and expect to have a great many more than this in 1916. We had one pair of Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in our