Beautiful, cheerful, demure, raising two or more broods in the season, always a picture of “content in a cottage,” the Bluebird is the all-round ideal tenant for the simple bird house. He is, however, not a bird of the city, nor always a bird of the village garden. The suburbs, especially the more secluded spots therein, suit him much better. He tends, and that with ample reason, to shrink from the society of English Sparrows whose rough, aggressive manners and harsh notes introduce discord into his naturally calm and peaceful existence. By all means provide a house for this peerless tenant; also be prepared to lend him all possible assistance in policing his property until the eggs are laid. Once the precious eggs are deposited, trust the prospective parents to defend their treasure; for even the Bluebird is no exception to the general rule that a brooding bird will readily put an erstwhile successful bully to speedy and inglorious flight. See [Plate III] and [Table I] for housing the Bluebird.
To provide for a second nesting and possibly a third, the procedure should be the same as that described for the House Wren. See, therefore, directions given for that species.
Other Bluebirds
The Western Bluebird fills the same role on the ranges and ranches that is taken on the smaller farms of the east by his eastern namesake. Build and place the house for the one precisely as for the other. The western bird seems much more inclined than the eastern to adopt nesting sites in or close to human dwellings.
The Mountain Bluebird will use the same type of house; its location, of course, should correspond with the local haunts of the species.
The Crested Flycatcher
There is a peculiar satisfaction in successfully providing a house for those species, such as the Crested Flycatcher, which do not ordinarily resort to artificial nesting sites. It is something of a “feather in the cap.” Select a dilapidated orchard or an out-of-the-way woodside as a location for the Flycatcher’s house; place the house and await the results with expectations not too sanguine. Should fortune favor you with an opportunity to watch these birds building, remember to look for the famous dried snake skin almost invariably worked into the nest by this species, not forgetting that the reason for its use is still one of the mysteries. Measurements for the Flycatcher’s house will be found in [Table I]. See Plates [Plate II] and [Plate III] for styles of house recommended.
The Flicker
