THE EARLY SCOUT GETS THE BIRD

⚜Killing two birds with one stone may have been satisfactory in the old days, but in these days of inflation we figured we should be able to knock off at least six birds, figuratively speaking of course.

It all started at a Committee meeting when we were looking around for a Scout Week window display idea. A mass display of bluebird houses made by the Scouts was suggested. But just making birdhouses as a craft project did not seem too practical, unless we could put the houses to use and get birds to nest in them. But why couldn’t we do that? We could. We did. And this is how it worked:

Boards were cut and kits were assembled in the basement workshops of Committeemen and friends.Wolf Photo

First of all, each Committeeman made one birdhouse, using the pattern shown here and an old apple crate or scrap lumber. That was to prepare the Committeeman to help the boys. It also gave us a start with ten houses.

Then each Scout was given a copy of the pattern and asked to make a house in the next week. Most of the fellows came through and we had twenty more. Now we were ready for mass production.

We scouted the lumberyards in town, and the building projects for scrap lumber—1″ thick boards in various lengths and widths. Everyone was cooperative and we got all the wood we needed. We bought the nails, and then looked around for a “basement shop” or woodworking hobbyist to help us prefabricate the birdhouses. The power saw was easily found, and we went to work sawing up the boards to the proper sizes.

Birdhouses were used first in Scout Week window display and later were placed out in orchard country.Frederick Avery PhotoWolf Photo

Then we tied up the boards into “kits,” each kit containing all the makings of a house. In Patrol Meetings, the Scouts assembled the houses. That gave us something over 150 more houses.

Window Display

When the houses were complete, just before Scout Week, we gathered them all together and built our window display. The photo shows what it looked like. But the photo doesn’t show all the interest it aroused.

Mapping

The craft work “bird” and the window display were knocked off—now for setting up the houses. The Buffalo Ornithological Society helped us, and we placed them along fifty miles of highways radiating out from town. The houses were placed in orchard country, with the approval of the land owners. Each group made a sketch map of the roads along which they set up houses, and we put the segments together to make a large map showing the location of all the houses.

A map was made to show the location of each birdhouse so that check-ups could be made during the nesting season.Wolf Photo

Bird Study

Of course the chief purpose of the project was to attract birds and provide nesting places for them. So two more “birds” fell before our one stone. Weekly hikes, during the spring, gave Scoutsa chance to see how successful the housing development was. Every house was checked and the tenants carefully observed. Landlords can’t be too careful these days. We found that we housed more than 400 young birds.

THE EARLY SCOUT GETS THE BIRDBy H. B. Hammill, Jr.Committeeman, Troop 64,Williamsville, N.Y.

THE EARLY SCOUT GETS THE BIRD

By H. B. Hammill, Jr.Committeeman, Troop 64,Williamsville, N.Y.

In the fall too, hikes were necessary, to check on the houses to see how they were standing up, and also to clean them out. Bluebirds won’t use a house that contains the remnants of a last year’s nest. So the houses were all cleaned to be ready for the 1949 season.

Community Service

Of course there is one more “bird” that we haven’t mentioned yet—and probably the most important. This was one of the best community service projects we could try. For bluebirds are insect eating birds, and one family in one season can destroy an unbelievable number of harmful insects. Attracting the birds to orchard country should certainly help to improve the apple crop—at the same time the birds are among the first to arrive in spring and they stay all summer. They are colorful, cheerful birds and their very presence should help to make some people happier—just to see and listen to them.

So that’s our birdhouse story. It was a project that lasted for six months. It is good Scouting all the way through, and it was not hard to organize. We heartily recommend it to others. But remember! The early Scouts get the bird! Start it now, so the houses are up by the end of February. Bluebirds come early and prefer “weathered” houses. You too, can “kill” six birds with one stone.

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