2G 



are very hot in sunny weather. Care is taken not to let the 

 paint run into the entrances, and to paint only up to the edge 

 of each. 



Mr. Arthur W. Brockway of Hadlyme, Connecticut, has es- 

 tablished a large colony of martins by building small cottages 

 out of grocery boxes. (See Fig. 29.) 



Mr. Jacobs asserts that a martin house should have only en- 

 trance ventilation, but Mr. Dodson of Chicago makes the attic 

 of his martin house so that it may be entered from either end, 

 but not so that any draft can blow through the nesting apart- 



Fia. 29. 7— Successful soap box martin colony of 

 three houses. 



ments, and claims that the martins invariably occupy these 

 upper rooms first. I have noted that when cold storms destroy 

 young martins, those on the sides of the house most exposed to 

 cold winds and rain die first. 



Poles may be made of wood or metal. A two-inch galvanized 

 or painted iron pipe will hold a small martin house and will be 

 cat proof and snake proof, but rats or squirrels might climb it. 

 Nevertheless, if the house is large enough they cannot go be- 

 yond the floor unless wooden brackets, which should never be 

 used, are provided for them to climb. Sometimes martin 

 houses are mounted on dead trees. Smooth poles are believed 

 to be snake proof. Trees with bark on are not. Cats some- 



