18 METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



wood or tin fitting on over the top like the covei 

 of a pail. 



Very good imitations of tree-trunks may be 

 secured by constructing boxes out of slabs with 

 the bark on, or pieces of bark may be fastened 

 on boards. 



Board Houses. It is not necessary, however, 

 to use old limbs or bark to build a house which 

 the birds will use. A satisfactory box can be 

 made out of ordinary boards, the older the better, 

 as the birds are apt to be frightened away by 

 new boards ; but if these are used 

 they should be smeared with 

 moist soil and exposed to the 

 weather as long as possible before 

 the birds are expected to use the 

 house, or they may be stained 

 green or brown. In the construc- 

 tion of these houses a few points 

 are to be noted. (1) The box 

 should be very deep, that is, with 

 the large dimension vertical ; (2) 

 the hole should be well up near 

 the top, within two or three inches, 

 with no perch near ; (3) the roof should slope 

 from the back toward the front and project out 

 about three inches. The first two points make it 



