One January I went "bird's-nesting" with a party of Scout-masters. It
seems an odd time of year to do that; but we really went to see how
they manage to persuade birds to come and make their nests in the Bird
Sanctuary, near Brentford, just outside London.
We went into the big wood there, and soon found ourselves in the
presence of birds, for everywhere one could hear the piping, trilling,
and whistling of unseen warblers, and every now and then one of them
would flit across our path.
Then, on the side of almost every tree, we noticed a small box,
entirely closed up except for a small hole in the front. These were
the "nesting-boxes," and every spring the birds come and make their
nests in these boxes, and bring up their families. The consequence is
that the place is now alive with singing birds.
The son of Mr. Mark Webb, the manager of the Sanctuary, is in his
teens, but he knows everything about the birds that come there and
their ways, and he also knows all the different kinds of plants and
trees that grow in the wood. He is a very complete stalker-Scout, and
evidently gets a lot of fun and satisfaction out of watching the birds
and their doings.
Well, almost any Scout can do the same, and my advice to you is to
make a nesting-box or two as soon as you can, and put them up on
trees. Then, at the proper time, you may have the satisfaction of
seeing some rare kind of bird coming to your box and raising a family
there.
The box should be eight to ten inches high, by six wide and deep, and
the top preferably sloping to run any rain off.
[Illustration: A NESTING-BOX FOR BIRDS.]
The door is a small round or pear-shaped hole near the top of the box,
so that there is plenty of room for the nest below it.
A little ledge for the birds, and especially the young ones, to rest
upon, is a good thing to have on the front of the box. If possible,
paint your box roughly with dabs of green and brown to make it
match the tree stem and leaves, and put on it the name of your
patrol and troop if you like.
Then fix it to a tree trunk about six feet above the ground, where it
is safe from rats or snakes, and on the side of the tree farthest from
the path, if there be one near, so that the birds will not be frightened
by passers-by. If it is on the sunny side, so much the better.
Birds will build in almost anything which offers them safety
and shelter; an old kettle, for instance, or an old tin pot is a
favourite site for a nest. If you scatter a few crumbs or grains
of corn about your box every day at first, the birds will
become accustomed to it, and will soon adopt it as their home.
Any Scout who has not a tree of his own to hang his box on can
probably get leave to put it up, if he asks nicely, in some
neighbour's wood or garden, or in a park, and can then visit it from
time to time to see how it is getting on.
Most nesting-boxes have their roof, or front, on hinges, or made so
that it can slide off; but it does not do to examine the nest when
once it is made, or the old birds will desert it.
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