DEPENDABLE BIRD HOUSES 



will serve as decorative features when they are hung 

 among the thick branches of evergreen trees, or 

 among the vines of a garden arbor. This novel 

 home will be safer from prowling enemies and more 

 durable when suspended from the roof of a porch or 

 summer-house a situation which the house wren 

 frequently prefers for her nest building. 



When hung outside, the opening must be pro- 

 tected from the rains which would soften the in- 

 terior. With a little ingenuity in the manipulation 

 of long vertical wires, and two or three wire hoops 

 to hold the roofing material out from the neck of the 

 gourd, a thatch of straw may be applied with a 

 raffia-threaded darning needle. Quaint thatched 

 circular projections also may be arranged around 

 the neck of the gourd, close down about the bowl. 

 This collar-like roof will shed the rain from the 

 opening, and leave the upper part of the long neck 

 exposed. This bird house will be found a novel and 

 durable home for wrens and small birds. 



Bark-covered logs, carefully hollowed out and 

 suspended from the roof or walls of summer-houses 

 and garden retreats, form attractive bird homes, for 

 woodpeckers. 



The entrance holes in all these contrivances should 

 be made in proportion to the size of the birds to be 

 attracted. It is well known that the opening to the 



147 



