392 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
by taking pains to have the proportions right. The floor 
space in each compartment should be not less than five 
by six inches, and six by six or six by eight may be better. 
By cutting the boards in multiples of these numbers, one 
can easily make a house with several compartments; for 
there are some birds, as Martins, Tree-swallows, and 
Pigeons that like to live in families or colonies. The size of 
the doorway is important. It should be just large enough 
to admit the bird. A larger opening not only looks bad, 
but it exposes the inhabitants to dangers of cats and other 
enemies. Birds which build in houses, aside from Doves 
and Pigeons, are Bluebirds, Wrens, Tree-swallows, Martins, 
and sometimes the Chickadee. For the Wren and Chicka- 
dee the opening should be an inch-and-a-half augur-hole, 
and for the others it should be two inches. Only one 
opening should be provided for each house or compart- 
ment. A perch or door-step should be provided just below 
each door. It is here that the birds often stop to arrange 
their toilets; and when the mistress is busy with domestic 
affairs indoors, the male bird often sits outside and enter- 
tains her with the latest neighbourhood gossip. These 
houses should be placed on poles or on buildings in some- 
what secluded places. Martins and Tree-swallows like to 
build their nests twenty-five feet or more above the 
ground, but the other birds usually prefer an elevation less 
than twelve feet. Newly made houses, and particularly 
newly painted ones, do not often attract the birds. 
But if the birds and I are companions, I must know them 
more intimately. Merely building houses for them is not 
enough. I want to know live and happy birds, not dead 
ones. We are not to know them, then, by catching them, 
