[Illustration: Illustrated capital B]
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.