HUMANE EDUCATION 79 



square on the ground plan, four ft. high at the back, and six ft. high 

 at the front, the roof to pitch from the front backward. The floor 

 is tight, and the whole house is supported on piers or posts a foot 

 high from the ground, and capped with zinc projecting downwards 

 to prevent entrance of rats. The roof may be made of rough 

 boards covered with felt roofing paper, or it may be shingled. In 

 any case, it must be rain-proof. The door for the entrance of the 

 caretaker is placed at one end of the house near the front. Along 

 the front of the house is a window, with eight panes of glass, each 

 pane being 8 x 10 inches. The bottom of the window should be 18 

 inches above the floor. The window-sill on the inside should be 

 widened by adding a board a foot wide, so the birds may get a sun- 

 bath, which is very necessary to their health. On either side the 

 window is an exit of 6 x 6 inches, with rounded top, and an alight- 

 ing board six inches wide on the outside, and also on the inside of 

 each exit. There should be four rows of nests at the back. The 

 nest compartments should be made of shelves a foot wide and spaced 

 a foot apart. These shelves should be paritioned with narrow 

 boards into spaces a foot wide. The shelves should be removable 

 so that they may be taken out to be cleaned if necessary. The 

 house is really kept much cleaner if nesting bowls are used. These 

 bowls are made for the purpose, and are sold by the makers of 

 floral potter}- for green-houses. However, they are necessary only 

 when squab-raising is planned. There should be five rows of nests 

 along the side. 



(Q.) Why must there be an alighting board in front of each 

 nest? 



(Ans.) Because when the birds are nesting, the mate has to sit 

 close to the sitter so as to encourage and keep her from getting 

 lonesome. 



(Q.) How must the inside walls be treated' 



(Ans.) Whitewashed with lime to which carbolic acid is added 

 in proportion of one teaspoonful of acid to two gallons of wash. 



(Q) . What does this do ? 



(Ans.) Kills lice and disease germs. 



(Q) . What should be put on the floor ? 



(Ans.) Sand, sawdust, or chaff. 



(Q.) How often should it be cleaned out and replaced? 



(Ans.) As often as it gets foul. 



