664 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



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Fir,. 18. — Lumber diagrams of house 

 shown in figure 17. Thickness of 

 boards ?i inch. 



Fig. 19. — Style of house suitable for 

 sparrow hawks, screech owls, blue- 

 birds and wrens. Designed to be 

 placed in trees. Bottom can be 

 removed by turning button. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTING HOUSES 



House birds differ decidely in their requirements. 

 For those which usually excavate homes for them- 

 selves, the diameter of the entrance and the depth 

 and diameter of the cavity must be in accord with 

 their specific standards. Some birds are satisfied 

 with almost any sort of a lodging. Bluebirds and 

 wrens, for example, are content to build in tomato 

 cans, although chicadees and nuthatches disdain 

 them. Wood is a better building material than 

 metal or earthenware. Entrance holes should be 

 countersunk from the outside to exclude rain. 

 Heads of nails and screws should be set rather 

 deeply and covered with putty. All houses should 

 be easy to open for cleaning. A perch at the 

 entrance is unnecessary and may even be an objec- 

 tion, as it is frequently used by English sparrows 

 while they twitter exasperatingly to more desirable 

 occupants. To provide for proper ventilation a 

 row of small holes is sometimes bored just beneath 

 the eaves, but there should never be a ventilating 

 hole lower than the entrance, and joints should be 

 made tight, as drafts of air are dangerous. In case 

 there is danger that rain may be driven in through 

 the door, a small drainage hole, which will be 

 covered by the nest, inay be made in the middle of 

 the floor. 



The appearance and durability of houses are 

 improved by a coat of paint. A neutral shade of 

 green or gray is suitable for houses mounted in 

 trees, while those on poles, being conspicuously 

 placed, lend themselves harmoniously to the land- 

 scape when painted white. 



The dimensions of nesting boxes shown in Table 

 1 are taken from the experience of successful builders 

 and from measurements of woodpecker holes. 



Fig. 20. — Section of 

 house shown in 

 figure 19. 



HOUSE PLANS 



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Possibilities in the way of improvising bird 

 houses with very little work are suggested in Figures 

 1 and 2. Ordinary tomato cans treated in either 

 of the ways here indicated will be tenanted by 

 wrens and bluebirds. The cans ought always to be 



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FlG. 21 — Diagrams of house shown in figure 19 for sparrow hawks Fig. 22. — Diagrams of house shown in figure 19 

 and screech owls. Thickness of boards 54 inch. for bluebirds. Thickness of boards M inch. 



