Birdie Innovation?

What a surprise it is to find pieces of innovation in obscure places! While working on a project along with my students last semester (my topic at that time was bobbleheads), I was demonstrating how to find trademark and copyright information at the online US Patent and Trademark Office. Lo and behold if I don't find a patent for a gourd birdhouse!

My question has to be, What was the patent for? The concept of using a gourd as a birdhouse or using the hippie image as the birdhouse design?

  

This is a close-up of the patent text. 

Hanging holes and hanger, 
drainage holes, mouth
as the
 birdhouse entry hole
 -- like many gourd birdhouses!

The patent spec sheet is to the left with an up-close view above showing that patent 173,440 is for a birdhouse. I find it hard to believe the patent office would think no one has ever made a birdhouse out of gourd before this....which leads me to consider, was the patent for the design of the birdhouse?

Keep innovatin' and stay crackled all!