The Audubon Societies 



61 



MATERIALS 



The best materials to select in building bird-houses are weathered boards, 

 rustic cedar, slabs of wood with the bark adhering, or asphaltum roofing-paper. 

 Smoothly planed boards and paint should be avoided except on such houses as 

 are intended more for ornament than use. Gourds, when obtainable, can be 

 made very acceptable by cutting a hole of the proper size in one side, cleaning 

 them out and drilling a small hole in the bottom to drain off any rain that 

 may beat in. Tin cans may be used but are usually unsightly and become 

 excessively hot in the sun, unless covered with bark. One end should be re- 

 placed by a block of wood and the opening of the proper size should be made to- 

 ward one edge of this or in one side of the can. Green bark of chestnut or other 

 trees can sometimes be obtained and nailed into the form of a hollow cylinder, 

 but such boxes are usually not durable. A hollow limb, a deserted woodpecker's 

 nest, or a block of wood hollowed out in the form of a woodpecker's nest are 

 all good devices, but usually it is easier to cut rough boards into proper lengths 

 and nail them together securely in the form of 

 a small box. Sometimes boxes of the proper 

 size, such as chalk-boxes or starch-boxes, can be 

 found ready made and require only some 

 reinforcement. 



If one plans to make a great many of stand- 

 ard size, heavy asphaltum roofing-paper lends 

 itself most readily at a minimum of expense. 

 A working drawing is here given of the Cornell 

 improved bird-house for birds up to the size of 

 Bluebirds. These can be made in numbers for 

 a maximum cost of 10 cents each, and have 

 the advantage of being as easily made by girls 

 as by boys. The only tools that are necessary 

 are a pair of heavy scissors or a knife for cut- 

 ting the paper, an awl for punching holes for 

 the rivets, a tack-hammer and a piece of iron 

 pipe or a window-weight against which to 

 flatten the rivets. The split rivets used to fasten 

 the edges together can be purchased at any 

 hardware store. If a great many boxes are to 

 be built, it is wise to have a short piece of i}4 

 inch pipe sharpened to serve as a punch for 

 cutting the hole, but otherwise this can be done 

 with the knife. The blocks of wood, 4 inches 

 in diameter, can be cut from a log of that size or the Cornell improved 

 made in numbers in the manual training depart- fjJ^'^ER ' at °a cost^f 

 merit or the local carpenter shop on the jig-saw. about tln cents each 



