Page:Condor9(5).djvu/6

THE CONDOR VoL. IX ing I saw four huddled in one of nay bird-boxes. During the hard days of rain and snow they were continually together and returned at night to stay in the box. I think they were partly drawn to return each day by the food I put out. When I first saw them in the back yard, I tossed a worm out of the window and it had hardly struck the ground when it was snapped up. They ate half a cupful of worms. The bluebird, the wren and the swallow have taken remarkably to civilization. They formerly built in [?.? ?"?'?'? ?' ? '?i? [ holes in old trees in the ' ', midst of the woods, but now . ' ' , they prefer a house in the ? back yard. In one locality ' , near my home we used to I[ ? ? ? V find the bluebirds nesting - - every year in some old stumps. A MOSS-COVERED BIRD-BOX IN THE ORCHARD, OCCUPIED BY BLUEBIRDS SINCE I897; OVER IIO YOUNG HAVE BEEN HATCHED HERE Now several residences have been built nearby and in three of the yards there are bird-boxes, and the bluebirds have abandoned the stumps and taken to modern homes. A bluebird has better pro- teetion in a back yard and he knows it. Then if the own- em like him, he grows fond enough of them to perch on the hand, and he pays rent in the quality of his song and by ridding trees of harnfftd worms. Altho the bluebird often lives about the city, I asso- ciate him wSth country life. I imagine he likes a farm home better than a city flat. I have a friend in the country who has bird-boxes up in various places about his farm. Most of them find occupants every year. An old square box that is set in the crotch of an apple tree is ahead in the record. This box was put up in the spring of 1897 and was taken by a pair of bluebirds. It is only four feet from the ground and has a removable top so that the owner may readily make friends with the tenants. ?Vhen I opened the box and looked in, the mother sat quietly on her eggs and was tame enough to allow us to stroke her feathem. The box is now covered with moss and lichens, but it is famous in bluebird history. It has been occupied every year since it was put up, and not a single