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tllartin Reuses. In the February, 1904, issue of 

 "The Monthly Bulletin of the Division of Zoology", I gave 

 an extended article on the construction of bird houses for 

 the Martins, and will here state briefly that the compart- 

 ments should be 6x6x6 inches square, or a little larger, — not 

 over 6x8x7 inches. For each room, there should be only one 

 opening, 2| inches square, on a level with the floor or one 

 inch above it, and a small perch at the bottom of each en- 

 trance. The house should be well painted (I paint all my 

 boxes white, with colored trimmings), and joints in the roof 

 should be tinned to keep out the rain. A few dollars will 

 pay for all materials for a neat, serviceable box with several 

 rooms, which can be constructed during idle hours, and the 

 result enjoyed throughout the summer. 



The height of the house above the ground should be be- 

 tween twelve and fifteen feet in quiet premises; and higher, 

 if in a very public place, or where children use the lawn for 

 a play ground. When I first established my Martin colony 

 I had no children, but since that event I have been blessed 

 with a small "colony" of my own kind, who romp and play 

 over the lawn which encircles bird house No. 3. This box 

 used to be a favorite with the birds, but I noticed a decrease 

 in the number of its occupants, especially in the years when 

 the birds were reduced by the elements, leaving surplus 

 rooms in the other houses. Those remaining seemed more 

 timid than formerly, and as I had made a two-foot fill in this 

 part of the lawn, I concluded the bird box should be higher. 

 Accordingly, last spring, I raised it to 16s feet above the 

 ground, and it was better patronized by the birds. 



My friend, Mr. J. M. Walker, of New Bethlehem, Pa., 

 has sent me a photograph of his bird home, which was well 

 patronized by the Martins the past season. It consists of a 

 cluster of four boxes surrounding the top of a 50-foot pole, 

 with a roosting shed eight feet long above them. Under 

 the protecting roof of this shed, the old birds gather their 

 broods to spend the night, after they are strong enough to 

 leave their respective nest rooms. He writes me that his 



