[Illustration: Illustrated capital W]
We have alluded to undesirable tenants, meaning usually, or in
particular, the English Sparrow and European Starling. There is also
another class of possible bird-house occupants to be dealt with--the
owls and the Sparrow Hawk. The owls and the hawks are usually considered
taboo on account of their fondness for the smaller birds which most
persons wish to encourage. One does not ordinarily keep cats and
canaries in the same restricted and common area and expect pleasing
results. Yet, it may be quite another thing if an estate is large enough
to provide sufficient wild cover. Owls and hawks are as interesting as
other birds, and a wood, suitable in size and character, which lacks the
quota of owls or hawks natural to it will always be lacking in one of
its most proper assets and characteristics. To the true nature lover a
great wild forest from which owls are excluded might seem, at best, an
arboretum where there might as well be a name tag on each tree-trunk.
An occasional nesting site for owls in a wood of many acres, an
appropriate box or two for Sparrow Hawks in a waste tract or along a few
hundred yards of woodside will invite us to visit these places more
often and will provide a new zest to the visits. At the same time, we
are but following nature's way of balancing the wildlife. Nor will the
smaller birds be seriously affected; there may be a tendency for many of
them to move in a little closer toward our dwellings for increased
safety.
A house for small owls and the Sparrow Hawk should follow the lines of
the house illustrated in Plate V, size of entrance and other dimensions
being given in Table I.