Part 5

We have alluded to undesirable tenants, meaning usually, or in particular, the English Sparrow and European Starling. There is also another class of possible bird-house occupants to be dealt with--the owls and the Sparrow Hawk. The owls and the hawks are usually considered taboo on account of their fondness for the smaller birds which most persons wish to encourage. One does not ordinarily keep cats and canaries in the same restricted and common area and expect pleasing results. Yet, it may be quite another thing if an estate is large enough to provide sufficient wild cover. Owls and hawks are as interesting as other birds, and a wood, suitable in size and character, which lacks the quota of owls or hawks natural to it will always be lacking in one of its most proper assets and characteristics. To the true nature lover a great wild forest from which owls are excluded might seem, at best, an arboretum where there might as well be a name tag on each tree-trunk.

An occasional nesting site for owls in a wood of many acres, an appropriate box or two for Sparrow Hawks in a waste tract or along a few hundred yards of woodside will invite us to visit these places more often and will provide a new zest to the visits. At the same time, we are but following nature's way of balancing the wildlife. Nor will the smaller birds be seriously affected; there may be a tendency for many of them to move in a little closer toward our dwellings for increased safety.

A house for small owls and the Sparrow Hawk should follow the lines of the house illustrated in Plate V, size of entrance and other dimensions being given in Table I.

The Common House Finch

The several western and extreme southwestern forms of the native House Finch may, for our present purposes, be grouped with birds like the Robin and Phoebe which find such a number and variety of chance but suitable nesting sites that to provide still others may seem superfluous effort. And yet, to see the bright red of the Common House Finch and to hear his cheery song, say, in the heart of a city like Denver where one looks only for English Sparrows, is to be tempted to offer this citizen a more "desirable property" than the water-spout or other chance nook or cranny in which he may otherwise elect to build. The most successful is the open or semi-open type of nesting box, as shown in Plate VI, Nos. 1 and 2.

Robin and Phoebe

These birds are not classed as bird-house tenants. When they nest in a building, it is nearly always a deserted human dwelling or some other structure made originally for man's own use. In other words, the only sort of bird house at all likely to attract Robin or Phoebe would be one of cavern-like proportions in keeping with one type of natural site which both species favor, especially the Phoebe.

The architecture of most human dwellings is such that either Robin or Phoebe would find nesting-sites, as they often do, over windows, under porches, or about eaves. But birds are not very considerate of the human liking for cleanliness, and their nests therefore are often placed where we least desire them. To lessen that chance and to furnish nesting-sites when they do not otherwise occur on a given dwelling or outbuilding, the following suggestions for nesting shelves are offered. The idea of nesting shelves is not a new one, and experience shows that an effective nesting shelf may be of almost any description.

1 and 2, Nest box for House Finch. The front is left entirely open, except for a cleat to hold the nest in place. Drainage holes may be bored in the bottom of the cleat, or the cleat may be raised a quarter of an inch above the floor level. 3, Nesting shelves for Robin and Phoebe. See text for directions. The raised rim shown here is not always essential, but it may aid the birds to get a start, since high winds are inclined to blow away the first straws from exposed sites.]

The accompanying illustrations will fully explain themselves. However, it is well to emphasize here that the simplest possible shelf, if only a mere cleat, is all that is really required--5 to 6 inches wide for the Robin, 3½ to 4½ inches wide for the Phoebe; any length of 8 inches or over for either bird.

The Robin often nests more than 25 feet up, the Phoebe seldom so high. Place the Phoebe's shelf 8 to 20 feet up, the Robin's 8 to 30 feet. Should the locality be in the country, one must chance a Phoebe claiming a shelf intended for Robins; either species should prove desirable as a tenant. Certainly cultivators of cherries, currants, and other small fruits may well console themselves should Phoebes become their uninvited guests! The Phoebe is a true flycatcher and has none of the Robin's special fondness for garden fruits.

1, Natural boulder bath; 2, natural flat stone bath; 3, cement bath on a stone foundation; 4, a ground-pool bath of cement with a border of small boulders.]

Bird Baths

Birds are inveterate bathers. Bathing is the daily habit of Robins, Catbirds, goldfinches, Song Sparrows, and most other small species, whenever facilities are available. Artificial baths are most important where other bathing places are distant or inadequate. In times of drought, birds will resort so eagerly to baths as to form an almost continuous daily procession.

The bird bath lends itself to endless variations in size, shape, style, material, and cost. Often one may find a large boulder which, at the expense of moving to the desired spot, will prove a ready-made bath if it has a shallowly concave side. Or such a water basin may be chipped out of a rock by a stone mason. Smaller stones, flattened and more or less scooped, are common along many streams. One of these stone slabs, mounted on a pile of supporting stones, makes an excellent bath. Failing that or as a matter of taste, a massive shallow basin may be cast in cement to take the place of the natural slab. A pool may be provided by lining with cement and surrounding with stones a prepared spot in lawn or garden. See illustrations. If desired, running water may be piped to any style of bath. Whatever type the bath may be, the following rules strictly apply.

1. Depth of water should be graduated from nothing at the edge of bath or pool to not more than 2½ inches at its deepest; except that in the case of the larger ground pools it may be graduated up to 5 inches.

2. The bath must be swept or sponged out daily or as often as it becomes much befouled.

3. Inside of bath should be rough to allow the birds a sure foothold.

4. If the bath is on or near the ground, no shrubbery or other possible concealment for cats should be within 25 feet of it. It is well also to have a branchy tree within a few yards of the bath or pool, so that the bathers when alarmed, may easily reach a place of safety, for their wet plumage will prove a handicap in longer flights.

Trays may be partitioned for different foods. Suet is sometimes tied to the supporting post. The swinging station, shown at the right, always faces away from the wind, but must be carefully balanced at the point of pivoting.]

A--WOODEN PEG, HOLDING FOOD TRAY PIVOT (SECTION OF WATER-PIPE) B--FOOD TRAY C--CLEAT, SUPPORTING FOOD TRAY D--ROUND PERCH (ONE AT EACH END), SERVING TO HOLD ROOF BOARDS APART E--ROUND POST

Food Stations

Food is the chief problem of winter birds. Cold alone is scarcely a menace, while snow and sleet are chiefly harmful only when they cover up the food. Given proper food, the only real requirement for a feeding station from the birds' point of view is that it shall keep the food available, as by providing a roof to shed snow and ice. Among the wide variety of birds which frequently patronize food stations, various members of the sparrow and finch family, which includes the grosbeaks, juncos, and crossbills, vie with nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, and blue jays as the most dependable boarders.

For winter birds in the northern states, it is well to have the station in place and stocked with food as early as the first of November. These birds are then beginning to establish hunting grounds and routes, from which they will not stray all winter. Earlier in the fall, as again in spring, ground feeding is the better method. In this, scatter the food (millet, hemp seed, and so on) in the back yard, along the fence line or at the edge of shrubbery or thicket. Juncos, Towhees, Song, Fox, and Tree Sparrows, and many others will benefit. Eagerly devoured by the waxwings are dried currants and dried raisins. Nearly all birds are fond of suet. Tie sizable chunks of suet to trees and to posts of food stations; this appeals especially to woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees. Other standard foods are millet, hemp seed, sunflower seed, cracked corn, and bread crumbs. In addition, chaff and oats may be scattered on the ground for quail, grouse, pheasants, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, longspurs, and others in localities wild enough for these birds. Such feeding is particularly desirable when the snow is covered by an icy crust. The food may be scattered under brush shelters, made of branchy tree limbs loosely and irregularly stacked and roughly thatched with pine, fir, spruce, or other conifer to keep out excess snow.

The care of a food station consists mostly in keeping up a supply of the proper foods and cleaning out the food trays as often as the condition suggests. A small separate tray of coarse sand will provide the grit many birds require. A hopper arrangement for feeding grains aids in keeping the food supply clean and it helps prevent the scattering of seeds.

Our publications include many useful manuals concerning birds and other wildlife. A descriptive list will be mailed upon request.

Cranbrook Institute of Science BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN

Transcriber's Notes