Evening star., 1946-05-15
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. TruceDeu.

A correspondent wants to know about
placing wren house
Should it swing on chain, or should
1t be rigid?" is the inquiry.
The wren house does best swinging,
on account OF the English sparrows.
Sparrows like a rigid nest
Since they are inclined to take to
wren houses, If the opening is large
enough for them to get in. they may
remain away If the house Is swung by
the wind.
English sparrows prefer a steady
foundation. That is why they nest in
house cutters, and the like.
Whether house swings or is steady
makes little difference to Jenny Wren
and family.
Height or placement either.
Color makes little difference, though
they do not like red, as rule
The wren house may be put as near
the ground as three feet, or as high as
10, it makes no difference to wrens.
These midgets Of the feathered world
will nest in the sleeve Of coat left out
on porch to air.
They will nest in wren houses on
porches, or even make nest on a jut-
ting place over a doorway.
Wren houses placed in shrubbery will
sway with rains and winds, and this mo-
tion tends to keep the sparrows away.
q Shrub placement is good. The wrens
like such positions. The poorest is on
the side of tree trunk, for this makes
them too conspicuous.
Wrens are smart. They lay their eggs,
then If they notice any one looking at
them, they manage to stay away from
the nest so that the onlooker thinks
they have given it up. Nothing Of the
kind. They are so small, that when they
refrain from singing, they can slide in
and out of nest or house without at
tracing the least attention. That is
why 1t Is dangerous to assume that wren
eggs have been deserted. Mostly the
parents are around, but they are laying
low. Wren eggs should never be re-
moved, in the belief that the parent
birds have deserted them. It is impoS-
sible for a watcher to be on guard all
the time, and during the intervals, the
wrens will fly in. If the nest is in shrub
berry, or in trees, where plenty of leaves
are around the house or nest, the birds
can fly in without being seen. They do
this by getting into position close to
the nest, stopping their bubbling song,
and then sliding through the leaves
The motion is too quick for the human
eye.
X +
BluebirG houses should be placed low
This, also, because of the sparrows.
Sparrows do not like low places to
nest. And they easily can get into a
bluebird house, through the usual door.
But If the bluebird house is put low,
the sparrows are not likely to bother it..
The bluebird house, however, should
be on post, preferably.
Even as low as four feet is a good po-
sition for bluebird mouse.
All bird houses should be cleaned out
by human hands.
Wrens, especially, like to find clean
house. They do not want to go to the
work or bother of cleaning out an old
one.
Probably an instructive hygenic sense
has most to do with this.
1t is a good plan to clean out all old
bird houses in the spring, and not wait
for the birds to do 1t. Some of them
will, some of them won't
Advice, often given, to leave the old
material in the house for the birds to
take out to suit themselves, is not based
on good hygenic sense; certainly the
undisturbed nest empty all fall and
winter, has been a good breeding place
for various insects and pests. There is
no reason why it should not be cleaned
out by human hands. In nature, it is
true, the birds would have to do it, If it
were done at all; but in nature, birds
often seek new nesting sites, rather
than fool around over old dirty ones.
Maybe they are trying to teach human
itv another lesson.