File:How to have bird neighbors (1917) (14747688461).jpg

Identifier: howtohavebirdnei00patt (find matches)
Title: How to have bird neighbors
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors: Patteson, S. Louise (Susanna Louise), 1853-1922
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Boston, New York (etc.) D.C. Heath and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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and caUing for help. Then againit seemed as if something had encouraged him, andhe sang out clearly something like this: Whew whew whew tr-r-r-r cho cho cho cho. After holding out against the sparrows for threedays, he went away. About a week later I heard asweet and happy twitter. Several martins wereflying around the house. I had named it TheMartins Aircastle. By this time the English spar-rows had begun nesting in some of the rooms. The martins perched on the wires in front of thehouse and made a saucy chatter, calling the sparrowsall sorts of names, I suppose. The sparrows jabberedback at them. In about an hour the martins left. Early the next morning another flock of martinscame. Some perched on the wires, some on the roof,and some on the porches of the martin house. Othersflew around in big circles. All were twittering andcalling in their happiest manner. I had driven the sparrows away the night before,and this is how I did it: I put a few big nails into THE MARTINS AIRCASTLE 81
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THE MARTINS AIRCASTLE a tin can, then closed the can and tied it to a longstick. With this stick I banged the can against themartin house pole again and again. It frightened 82 HOW TO HAVE BIRD NEIGHBORS the sleeping sparrows. By the moonUght I couldsee six come out and fly away; but I think there weremore. Two pairs of sparrows came back in the morning.They had made their nests side by side in the thirdstory. Long grasses were hanging out from the en-trances. Perhaps the martins were sorry for them;anyway, it looked as if they were willing to playfair. They did not chase them off any more; andthe sparrows, being now so few, no longer molestedthe martins. The martins now began to clean house. Therewere wads of chicken feathers and some broken eggsamong the rubbish which they threw out. This wassoon replaced by straws and sticks which theybrought for their own nesting. I could only counttwelve pairs of martins, so that there were plenty ofrooms for them and the sparrows too. I supposeo

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