THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 397 



stroyed and more Martin boxes put up, we might have, in 

 time, more Martins than ever. 1 A house for a large Martin 

 colony ordinarily involves the expenditure of a considerable 

 sum ; but a very good house, that will accommodate a colony 

 of ordinary size, may be made from a flour barrel. The roof 

 is of zinc, or of wood covered with painted canvas. The 

 Martin house should be placed on a pole at least fifteen to 

 twenty feet high. It should have sev- 

 eral large rooms, with entrances two to 

 three inches in diameter, that it may 

 provide room enough for several pairs 

 of birds, and that each tenement may be 

 readily inspected and cleaned when nec- 

 essary, and the whole house should be 

 painted in light colors, that the young 

 birds may not suffer too much from the 

 rays of the hot sun. It should be so 

 constructed that the young birds may 

 not be readily crowded out of the nest, 

 and so become the prey of cats. Such a Fig. 170. A Martin 

 catastrophe may be guarded against by 

 having a shelf or piazza extending round the house beneath 

 each tier of doorways, and constructing a railing at least 

 three inches high round the platform. Each of these plat- 

 forms should have a slight downward pitch, to carry off the 

 rain and prevent it from drhdng into the doorways below. 

 There should be no brackets beneath the box, for they afford 

 the cat a foothold. Many other designs will suggest them- 

 selves. A barrel might be covered and roofed with bark and 

 the railings made of twigs. In fitting up the rooms, a square 

 box should first be made, to go up the center of the barrel. 



1 An attempt might be made to establish the Martins by bringing here in the 

 night from other States bird houses occupied by Martins, young and old, and 

 setting them up on poles prepared for them in suitable localities here. There is 

 reason to believe that such introductions would succeed if carefully conducted 

 when the young had made about half their growth. .One successful attempt is 

 on record. There is a plentiful supply of food here for Swallows and Martins. 

 The increase of mosquitoes and flies in many localities since the summer of 1903, 

 when so many of these birds were destroyed, has attracted wide attention. The 

 reinstatement of the Martins is an important matter, which should engage the 

 attention of the State Board of Agriculture. 



