CIHM Microfiche Series ({Monographs) ICI\AH Collection de microfiches (monographles) Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes / Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographicaliy unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming are checked below. [77] Coloured covers / I— I Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged / Couverture endommag§e □ Covers restored and/or laminated / Couverture restaur^e et/ou pellicul6e I I Cover title missing / Le titre de couverture manque r I Coloured maps / Cartes geographiques en couleur D Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black) / Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations / n D Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material / Reli6 avec d'autres documents Only edition available / Seule Edition disponible Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin / La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge int^rieure. Blank leaves added during restorations may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming / Use peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela etait possible, ces pages n'ont pas ^t6 filmies. ^ L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6\6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exem- plaire qui sont peut-fetre uniques du point de vue bibli- ographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6tho- de normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured peges / Pages de couleur I I Pages damaged / Pages endommag6es □ Pages restored and/or laminated / Pages restaurees et/ou pellicul^es r~pf Pages discoloured, stained or foxed / I ^1 Pages d6coIor6es, tachel6es ou piqu6es I I Pages detached / Pages d6tach6es [vf Showrthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies / n n Quality inegale de I'impression Includes supplementary material / Comprend du materiel suppl6mentaire Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image / Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmees a nouveau de fafon a obtenir la meilleure image possible. Opposing pages with varying colouration or discolourations are filmed twice to ensure the best possible image / Les pages s'opposant ayant des colorations variables ou des decolorations sont filmees deux fois afin d'obtenir la meilleure image possible. Additional comments / Commentaires suppl6mentaires: Pagination is as follows: p. [119]-126. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below / Ce document est fiim^ au taux de reduct ... ^ indique ci-dessous. lOx 14x 18x 22x 26x 30x y 19r Ifix 20x 24x 28x 3r>x Th« copy fitmtd h«r« has b««n raproducad thanks to tha ganarosity of: National Library of Canada L'axamplaira film* fut raproduit grica A la gAnirositi da: Bibliotheque nationale du Canada Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract apacificationa. Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iliustratad impraa- sion. or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copias ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or iliustratad impraa- sion. and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iliustratad imprassion. Tha last racordad frama on aach microficha shall contain tha symbol — ^ (maaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol V (maaning "END"), whichavar applias. Las imagas suivantas ont iti raproduitas avac Is plus grand soin. compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da l'axamplaira filmi, at an conformity avac las conditions du contrat da filmaga. Laa axamplairas originaux dont la couvartura en papiar aat imprimia sont filmis an commanpant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darniirb paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration. soit par la second plat, salon la cas. Tous las autras axamplairas originaux sont film^s an commandant par la pramiAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraasion ou d'illustration at an tarminant ".'l6t 48? - G 300 - Pho"ff ^S ' ''^*' 238 - 5989 - Fa. ^. ♦ r V <^ •^ BIRD-HOUSES AND THEIR OCCUPANTS By p. a. Taverner I I Reprinted from The Ottawa Naturaust, Vol. XXXII, January, 1919. (Date of Issue, March 6th, 1919). ^^',i^- ?frfBSiifefe^'rif ■ ffV -^. Jr -V -♦»- A Sli CI^SSI Tl. .MAlri'lN (■■iI.cNV. -"1 '■ :i\ THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VOL. XXXII. JANUARY. 1919. No. 7. RIRDHOUSKS AND THKIU (KCUPANTS.* By p. a. Tavlknek. 1 i Like D(?d niona, w< "have a divided duly". On the one hand lo cuhivate the land cleanly, and on the other, to attract birds to it. These are opposed duties. If we cut the dead wood from our wood lots, parks, and groves: clean out. slerili/e. and fill rotting spots in limb and trunk with concrete, we deprive many birds of nesting facilities. If we clear out tangled brush, cultivate to the fence lines, open the ground about young, second-growth plantations, and drain the last marshy spots, we deprive many of necessary cover and the food that goes with it Insect, weed, and small mammal pests may be reduced ; but so. inevitably, will the birds as well. I he consequence is likely to be that, whilst our control of pests on the whole will be better, we shall be subject lo occasional sporadic outbursts of species that are not subject to these par- ticular methods of control. Whilst the study of their food habits may suggest that birds do not usually partake largely of those insects (for example, the potato bug) whose numbers commonly assume plague proportions, it is also evident that insects that birds systematically feed upon, rarely become plagues. We know, to our sorrow, the few instances where our control is inadequate, but we have no means of knowing the innumerable cases where it has warded off disaster. The real value of birds as guardians of cur fields and gardens is not in the individual species but in the aggregate, each flllini? its own narrow field, yet all combined, covering every weak point. The swallows hawk through the upper air; the vireos, orioles, and tanagers haunt the tree tops; the wood peckers and chickadees, the limbs and bark crevices; whilst thrushes examine the d-»bris of wocded grounds and the sparrows and meadow larks scour open fields and shrubbery tangles. In fact at no period of their life cycles arc insects free from avian attr:k flying, creeping, hiding or buried in the ground or in solid wood — there are species of birds fitted for and eager to attack them. Should any one class of these, our unpaid assistants, be prevented from functioning, an opening is lift in our defence that may be an Achilles" heel to our un doing. If we turn our woods into groves, meadows into lawns, and tangles into formal shrubbery some- thing of this sort is possible, unless compensations are provided. In the home grounds and city streets and parks the ideal of clean cultivation is most nearly approached and here it is the more necessary to provide artificially fhe necessities of bird life that are missing. Bird boxes will largely compensate for natural cavities in trees and carefully selected plantings of shrubbery and decorative flowers in naturalistic de- sign will supply cover and fruit and seed food. If we fortunately succeed in reducing insects to a point dangerous to bird welfare the deficiency can be supplied by scraps of animal matter presented at feeding stations, on shelves, or in shelters. In these ways only can we partially compensate for our interference with the natural scheme and retain wild birds under conditions of high cultivation. In- cidentally, as the home lot is the first to be made atractive to birds, we draw their interesting person- alities close about us, and in place of having to tramp miles to their secluded haunts, decoy them to our very windows where they can be enjoyed practically continuously instead of occasionally, in- timately instead of distantly, and at ease instead of by exertion. Any one of the methods above sug- gested requires, for intelligent development, a paper to itself; and the first, only, the building of bird houses and boxes, will be here discussed. The first thing to consider in building a bird box is the species for which it is designed. Each has its own requirements and though its necessities are more or less lastic the more nearly we fulfil the bird's idea! the more successful we shall be in getting it to use what we provide. In short we must cater to the customs and idiosyncrasies of our tenants and not to our own ideas of convenience and beauty. It >l'iil.lislii-.l l,v iMrniis.-^iiin olilu'ti. Illlisll-uliiilis liy ••.illrl.<.v iif III, !;.■ liiiyica) .^iirvf>-. l«iKieal Survry. 12(1 I n K ') 1 I A * A N A r i; H A I I > r IVol. XXXII. i\ iiiily after llir forinii lnn- b-i-n fully ni'l thai »f 1 .111 indulni- ihc Irtllir. 1 tin di>'^ mil iucr««dtily mian lli.il la«lr and irm-nuiiy in llir d"%iKiirr i» an (lijrclion, hul only llial llir fundanun:al rules of ail K"Virn bud hnuse building .'« mil a» inorr Mfioui archiliclurt- that ihr ^Iruilnn- niu»l fir»l be adapted U> lU intended u«e and lliat beauty that inl.ifeiei wilb till* me i« false art and bad archi- teelure. A jliingled cottage built to liok like a Uiediai'val cattle \t bad taste, and a bird h<:use in too close iniilalion of a city hall, m vnd by the canons of pure art, is e(|ually questionable. Artis- tically, the most successful bird house is the one, which, while fullilling the practical bird r <|u:re nients. retains pleasing lines and agreeable "urfaces but looks frankly what it is a house for birds and not ,1 toy human habitation. TIIK fl Hl>l.t. MARTIN. Probably the bird most generally welconiieening and fluffing to let the grateful warmth sink ?'--r3f:».5?-s=-=_r January. I9I9J Till Ottawa Natikalist 121 >l into ihr bati- of ihrir plumagr. A« ihr nun gt'li highrr ihry make ihorl flighl* hi-rr and ihrrr. amidil a rhorin nf h-ijipy bubbling «ong. By ihr limr ihf officr man u betaking hirimlf In hi« d.iily grind, ihr Marlins brihink ihcunrln-s of their lerioui duticj of life, .ind hie «way for the day. over marsh- land and meadow, held and stream, hi-j riops or country, until evening again calls them together. Sui h are some of the atttaclions of Purple .Marlins and the tale is not nearly exli.iusled. Purple Marlins are the only birds we have that will occupy a nesting box in colony. Other birds that can be induced to come to arlific:al i.est re- ceptacles are solitary in their breeding liabils and impatient of close neighbours even whv'n of their own species. Hence it is useless to build biid lirusrs of more than one comparlmenl for other species than Martins. I he rooms should be about six inches square and about the same height. A little more or less either way will not matter, but these 51^(5 should be approximated. The rooms should be entirely separate from each other and not intercommunicat- ing. They should be light, be draught and wealher tight and have only a single entrance each, which may be either round or square, one and ihree-quar- leis of an inch and abcut one oi one and a half inches up from the floor. Ibis last is important. A perch or shelf, outside, on the level with the en- trance, is objectionable as the young come out on it before they can fly. and the natural crowding for pcsition is certain to precipitate some to the ground. Such occurrences cause great disturbance and anxiety to the whole colony, but I do not think that the unfortunate victin. of the accident is ever fed or raised, even if the commotion does not attract the watchful cat. A perch somewhat below the door, wid^- enough to comfortably hold one or more grown birds, is desirable, as Marlins love to sit about, and the more perches and shelves there are for this pur- pose, the better they seem to like it and the more attractive the colony is both fr^m their virwpoin! and ours. The doors should be sheltered as much as possible by over-hanging eaves and porches. Driving rain beating into the nests of young birds is a deadly em. my and, probably on this account, the best shclfered entrances are most in demand. In the house in the frontispiece the two upp floors are always most in demand. Consequently, since the picture was taken, additional porch shelters have been placed over the lower entrances and it is expected that these will make them more popular. The whole house should be covered with a good, tight, weather- proof roof. Dampness means cold and that is death to young birds. It is also most advisable to arrange the house to open so that after the birds have left for the winter the rooms can be thoroughly cleaned oul During the inf.iney of the young, a certain amount of house cleining i« allmdt d li, but later the birds have no time for iece was built of beaver-board a heavy card- board on a wooden frame and the roof and c.;- posid surfaces covered with cotton well painted down. It has been up two seast 'is now and shows no signs of deterioration that a brush-full of paint will not remedy. Probably a belter material is the light wood of which orange crates are made. Il would probably be well to give the house a good coal of black paint inside to prevent the light from glowing through it. I he support is a built-up box pole hollow in the centre and S'-t on a concrete base, as shown in the details accompanying. The hcuse i'felf slidrs up and down the pole on counter weighted cords running over common sash pulleys in the top of the pole, with a heavy window weight inside. A bag of sand would do as well for the latter. This allows the house to be easily lowered to remove trapped sparrows or to be cleaned. Access is gained to the weight box inside through a removable section n' ar the base. I hese are about all the rules necessary for the erection of a successful Ma..;n house. It may have as many rooms as desired, the more the merrier, and the larger the colony may grow, but there should at least be several ; for Martins are sociable and love the company of their kind. Bearing in mind these requirements and the principles of good taste previously mentioned, there are no reasons why a Martin hou,se that will bo a constant source of pleasure to the neighbourhood may not be built by almost anyone. After such a hcuse is cnce erected, about n.l that can be done Is to await its occupation and meanwhile keep the sparrows oul. They will invariably occupy il If not prevented. One good way to exclude them is to arrange enlrnnccs that can be easily closed from below. Shou'd sparrows 122 Thk Ottawa Naturalist [Vol. XXXII. Roo/-nz-D MOTUSX ^ii^A.. The Ottawa Naturalist [Vol. XXXII. T ! 0 I ! rr c-^f ,V •^■r:t*e — i— ' T^ r^ ''^^ r^^^ii !.-*.n 11 J u - A,-^ ^ r.^--^ "^0^ vr> L^^ J a/ "V; SJ..,. ..f 7, - ^ ■ - -, ■\ r \ '-^^^ In :\ •J ,^,- /t,/r • I Gl I ig.-g. ji t t I .■5,• .'-.'/i' *r A5 , I \^^'t^o^^^d±FKIZ^..lK^.i±_^±S'' - * — ■ ' i January, 1919] Tut Ottawa Naturalist 125 bcil over with bubbling song with notes falling over each oliur in an allc.npl to get all out at once. It is a prying little busybody and not a nook or cor- ner escapes its small inquisitive eyes and very little in the insect line its sharp, delicately tapered bill. Through the currant bushes it climbs -nd peers under every leaf, along every twig, then into the raspberry patch, down through the trellis and into the dark recesses of the phlox and larkspurs. The fence next receives its attention and every crack and joint is examined. Perpendiculars and horizontals, right side up ard upside down are all one to it, gathering a worm here, a caterpillar there and spiders everywhere; and as it goes it scatters its bubbling song all over the garden. A flutter- budget and a Paul Pry, a busybody and a scold, but withal an important ally of the gaid-ncr. I wish this were all I could say of it, but candor makes me issue a note of warning. If there are other small birds nesting near-by, watch the Wren closely. It is also a serious mischief-maker. This may be a trait of individuals, as there are rascals in all stations and walks of life. I hope it is, for Wrens have been known on more than one oc- casion to steal into the nests of other birds and puncture the eggs there. They do not eat the eggs, but seem to destroy them out of pure gnomish mal- iciousness. One is in a quandary whether to admire the little indefatigable caterpillar destroyer and merry songster or to wage war on it as a wanton destroyer and an enemy to husbandry. TI«EE SWALLO*. The Tree Swallow is dressed in a panoply of gleaming steel and white. All above is iridescent black with snowy white below. The female is similar, but with colours less pure and gleaming. Normally the Tree Swallow nests in old wood- pecker-holes, in dead trees, preferably overhanging water, but always in the open. Its sweet little "chmk a chmk", like water dripping into a quiet pool, is a pleasant sound and the gleam of its wings in the bright sun adds a most attractive presence to the garden. It has no bad faults that I hav- dis- covered and the number of in.secis it takes is con- siderable. The house should be on a pole in the open and from ten to fifteen feet up, though greater heights are not necessarily objected to and the box can often be set up from the house top if no more intimate siluaticn is available. BLUKBIRD. John Burroughs has d-scribed the Bluebird (the eastern species) as "The sky above and the earth be- neath", and the description (its it perfectly. All above is iridescent cerulean blue and the throat, breast and most below dull earthy red "the good red earth". It is another bird above reproach and the brilliant coal of the male, its mate's more subdued colours, its pensive notes, "puri/ji. puritji," and i's modest liquid warble are additions to any land- scape. Its nest requirements arc quite similar to these of the Tree Swallow, except that it does not nest as high, often occupying holes in old fence posts not five feet from the ground and it is not specially partial to the vicinity of water. I advise every one to get a Bluebird to nest in the garden when-ver possible. I have not succeeded in doin^ this yet, but in the less urban situations it should not be a difficult species to entice. CRESTED FLYCATCHER. About the size of a sparrow but with a longer tail. Wood browns dbove with a slightly reddish tail, grey throat and breast, and pale lemon yellow below; sexes alike, combined with a nLmber of peculiar but not inharmonious whistles, these are the characteristics of the Crested Flycatcher. It is not very often that it comes to nesting ' oxes, but the un- expected sometimes happens and the writer has had this bird in his garden for two years not consecu- tively. The first year of the Martin colony, when it consisted of only a single pair. Crested Flycatchers occupied the wing of the house opposite the Martins. Battles royal occurred constantly, but one was as stubborn as the other and both remained. With a larger colony of Martins the Flycatchers would have stood little chance. The Flycatcher's box should be ten to twenty feet up and if it is partly .sheltered by trees as on the edge of a grove it will more closely approximate the natural habitat. FLICKER. Tne Flicker is a woodpecker and about as large as a robin. Valuable for itself it is still frrther useful as a provider of nesting holes for innumer- able other birds. In fact the greater number of our hole-nesting birds, unable to excavate for them- selves, are largely dependent upon holes made and abandoned by the Flicker. A Flicker box should closely approximate the nest he makes for himself— the Berlepsch type hollowed out of a .section of solid wood is the best. He is perfectly able to make his home for himself and is, therefore, not bound !o accept such makeshifts as other species are some- times forced to put up with. It will be noticed by referring to the drawings that the cavity is gourd or flask-shaped with a round bottom. This type is not difficult tn make. A section of natural trunk IS first split and the two halves hollowed out with chisel and gouge to match and then firmly nailed together. A board on the top forms an entrance shelter and prevents rain from draining down the joint. 1 he nest .should be placed rather high, pref- erably facing outward from the edge of a tree or trees. ma^m^^^:^*mi:^^L^. 'nlJ^ 126 The Ottawa Naturalist [Vol. XXXII. SCREECH OWL. The Screech Owl is not a common habitant of our gardens, but it is often found nesting in neglertt d orchards rt^here hollow trees give opportunity. It is a small owl, not greatly exceeding a robin In size, but of app iitly greater bulk on account of its heavier build and more flutfy feathering. Its colour may be a fine pattern of either ash grey or burnt sienna red, with prominent ear tufts and yellow eyes. It is carnivorous of course, and undoubtedly takes a certain number of small birds, though mice form its principal fare. On the whole, it is much more a friend than an enemy of man. It may sound in- consistent to allow a bird of prey to build in the garden, much more to advocate building a nest box for it, but it is an attractive little fellow with many pretty ways. It is a gross libel to call it "screech" owl for whatever its song is it is not a screech, but a very pretty whistled tremolo, and as soothing a sound as can be imagined. If one can be induced to stay within easy hearing distance from the house, its many other conversational themes will well repay the listener for his attention and will add an interest to the night that other bird voices give to the day. But if the owl interferes with other song birds? Well, it is mostly after mice and prefers them when it can get them; besides Martins, ard oiher birds that can be coaxed into boxes, arc probably safe inside when the owl is hunting. I would really hate to have to choose between a Screech Owl and the other birds Martin colony excepted of cours- Almost any one can have wrens and swallows in the garden, but the presence of a Screech Owl gives a cachet of distinction that I (iu!d hesitate to re- linquish. To fall asleep at night to the love making song of the Screech Owl, to be awakened in the morning by the pleasant gurgles of Purple Martins and pass the day to the songs of wrens and voices of Tree Swallows makes a modern commonplace garden approach in some degree at least t. from which we are supposed to have fallen. SPARROW HAWK. The Sparrow Hawk is hardly to be classed as an inhabitant of the garden. The smallest of our hawks, scarcely larger than a robin, and the brightest coloured of all our raplrres, the blue blood of the falcons runs through its veins. Such a bird cannot be expected to confine itself to the formal restrictions of suburban life. Its home is the open fields, and there it combats grasshoppers and mice in true knightly fashion. Its chateau is in some high flung limb of a tall dead tree. As a nobleman of the old regime it cannot be e.«pected to descend to the manual labour of the carpenter's and mason's trade, but inherits its residence from that useful commoner the Flicker, in whose abandoned or pre-empted stronghold it raises the cadets of its line. With all its nobility or perhaps because of it the Sparrow Hawk is still man's humble though often misjudged friend and it slays the grasshoppers and small mam- mal dragons of husbandry without let or stint. Though in the east there is probably little need to erect special quarters for it, as its natural habitat is still well supplied with suitable stubs, on the prairies of the west such accommodation is lacking, and it is often driven by necessity to occupy such prosaic sites as telegraph poles. Think how hard pressed a noble falcon must be to descend to such plebian usage; but noblesse oblige, and for the sake of the family line pride is swallowed. In such localities ii is a sentimental and esthetic as well as an economic duty to provide this brave little fel- low with facilities in keeping with his needs and traditions. The Berlepsch house is the best type and it should be erected as high as possible, over or mar what shrubbery is available. ' Z< '. ■^■"- ^^ it