Excerpt from Bird Lore, 1905, Vol. 7: An Illustrated Bi-Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds

If our interest in birds and their protection has waned in late autumn and early winter, we feel a new impetus. The shortest day has passed, Spring is ahead of us. What shall we do to earn the joy of it when it comes? There is legislation to be watched, there are laws to be enforced, people to be persuaded, children to be taught; but in Spite of these various duties, two practical needs equal them all. As it is inevitable and desirable that the land should be peopled and tilled, the birds' Ieaseholds of their hereditary haunts run out slowly but surely, and we must supply them with food and shelter, even as we do the red men on the reservations that have been allotted them.

It is not enough to say, We will see that you are not destroyed, we will tell the world of your good deeds, that it may pause and admire we must, at least, place homes and a livelihood within their reach.

Our editor has wisely made this issue a Bird-house number, and if any one expects to have bird-dwellings ready for occupancy in April, they should be made and placed in the month of February, that they may become a bit weathered and a part of their surroundings before the return of the first migrants.

As to these houses themselves, they may be of many shapes and patterns, but a few simple rules apply to them all.

In making a bird-house, try to study both box and location from the point of view of the species of bird you hope may occupy it, not from your own standpoint of a pretty bit of color in a picturesque location. You will notice that bird-hotels, full of impossible and draughty rooms with openings at both ends, are very seldom tenanted, save by squirrels and English Spar rows, and as we have no conspicuous or gaily colored nests, we should take this hint of color protection in the making of bird-houses. For this work there are no materials so suitable as weathered boards and sections of logs and tree trunks with the natural bark securely fastened in place.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.