homes, and the interiors should be like them 

 or the birds will not remain and nest in them. 

 Painted decorations should never be used. 



Birds that do not build a nest inside the trees 

 but burrow in the decaying wood, their peck- 

 ings forming a soft lining, are more difficult for 

 the inexperienced landlord to supply with ac- 

 ceptable nest boxes. 



Here we have found that a cross section of a 

 cedar log or apple wood, that is the large limbs 

 cut off in pruning time, that had decayed in 

 the centre, is the best thing out of which to 

 make them. The section of log can be split 

 in order to bore out the hollow. This should 

 be shaped like a flask, rather pointed at the 

 bottom, but filled in with some sawdust, an 

 inch or more deep, according to the bird it is 

 intended for. A Flicker should have about 

 three inches of sawdust, but a smaller Wood- 

 pecker does not require quite so much. The 

 entrance for the Flicker should be two and a 

 half inches in diameter, while for a Wood- 

 pecker two inches is sufficient. The burrow 

 should be deep enough below the entrance so 

 that a cat can not reach her paw down to the 

 nest. 



[198] 



