230 BIRD FRIENDS 



may be gouged out to the desired size and wired or 

 screwed together, so that they can be easily taken 

 apart if desired; or if one has a large auger, a hole 

 may be bored. 



No attempt at imitation. The third type of house, 

 in which no attempt is made to imitate the natural 

 nesting-site, may be classified, according to the ma- 

 terial of which they are made, as follows : wood, tin, 

 pottery, cement, roofing-paper, and gourds. Of these 

 wood is the most easily obtained and the most easily 

 worked. A satisfactory box can be made out of or- 

 dinary boards, the older the better, as the birds 

 are apt to be frightened away by new boards; but 

 if new boards are used, they should be smeared 

 with moist sand and exposed to the weather as long 

 as possible before the birds are expected to use the 

 house, or they may be stained or painted green or 

 brown. 



Tin houses. Quite a variety of houses may be 

 made from various kinds of tin receptacles, such 

 as tomato-cans, varnish-cans, coffee-cans, etc., by 

 fitting in at one end a circular piece of wood con- 

 taining the entrance hole. The author has been 

 very successful in attracting house wrens by using 

 old tomato-cans. An empty can was placed upon a 

 hot stove, with the cut end down, till the solder 

 was melted, and then the rest of the cover was 

 knocked off with a poker. A circular piece of wood 

 from a half-inch board was cut out so as to fit into 



