No. 4.] BIRD HOUSES AND NESTING BOXES. 197 



are acceptable to many birds if tied upon poles or trees (Fig. 7), 

 but they are not so durable as well-made wooden boxes, and I 

 have not had much success with them. 



My first nesting boxes, all of which were successful, were 

 made of old shingles, picked up from the ground when the 

 barn was reshingled, and some pieces of old weathered boards 

 removed from the ridgepole at that time. A square section 

 about 3| inches in diameter was sawed from the ridgeboard for 

 the top of the box, and another 4 inches wide was 

 used for the bottom, the shingles being nailed to 

 them (Fig. 8). A saw, hammer and jackknife and a 

 few nails were the only tools and materials required. 

 I have made such a box in twelve minutes. These 

 boxes were nailed up in elm, cherry and apple trees, 

 and some happy families of bluebirds were raised, 

 until at last the cats discovered them. A large num- 

 ber of shingles may be saved when a building is re- 

 shingled, and every year at the end of the season the 

 old boxes may be taken down and burned to do ^°' [," '°"^ 

 ^way with vermin, gypsy moths, etc., that may be 

 concealed within. It takes but a short time to make more. Tin 

 cans and flowerpots are not quite so suitable for nesting boxes as 

 are wooden receptacles, because pottery and metal are good con- 

 ductors of heat, and unless put up in the shade are likely, in 

 very hot weather, to overheat the young birds. Nevertheless, if 

 such utensils are placed where they will be in the shade during 

 the hotter part of the day they may be used with success 

 (Plate III.). Cheap, thin boxes, such as the larger cigar boxes 

 may be fastened up inside a barn under the eaves and a hole 

 bored through the wall of the building into each box, or a box 

 may be made for this purpose (Fig. 9). 



jNIany people write me anxiously asking of what size nest- 

 ing boxes should be made and begging for exact dimensions; 

 some are unhappy lest the entrance holes face the wrong 

 way; others are anxious about ventilation; others feel sure 

 that the smell of paint on the nesting boxes or bird houses 

 will drive the birds away, while still others fear that they 

 may get the box too high or too low; but all these things 

 make very little difference. The situation, environment, and size 



