dollar per box. The motive in putting up nesting-boxes is to at- 

 tract the birds and increase their numbers for economic reasons, 

 thus the cost is an important factor in determining to what extent 

 these boxes will be used by persons of moderate means. Often a 

 person with a large bank account, and whose country estate is of a 

 size to warrant the placing of fifty bird houses, will consider very 

 carefully the advisability of investing fifty dollars in bird homes, 

 even though he realizes the value of birds as destroyers of insect 

 pests. 



Our American birds will use a rectangular box quite as readily 

 as one of the von Berlepsch type. Wood is the best material to 

 use. Nesting-boxes of tin or other metal become very hot when 

 exposed to the glare of the sun, and those made of earthenware 

 are cold and damp. 



A nesting-box that happily combines ready acceptance by the 

 birds, is proof against the depredations of both cats and squirrels, 

 and that can be manufactured at a reasonable cost, is the one to 

 be used. 



Boards, nails, and the few tools essential for the construction 

 of a practical bird house that fulfills the above requirements, are 

 to be found in every well ordered household, and with the aid of 

 the working plans contained in this handbook, the farmer, the 

 school boy, and the commuter, may in their leisure moments 

 enjoy the pleasure to be derived from their own handiwork, and 

 at the same time contribute to the happiness of the birds. 



White pine boards, seven-eighths of an inch in thickness, 

 planed on one side only, makes the best building material. When 

 pine is not obtainable, other woods may be used. Old boards that 

 have become weathered are first rate for this purpose, only say 

 what you think, "sotto voce" when your saw strikes a hidden 

 nail. Use the planed surface for the outside of the box, the rough 

 side for the interior, and as a further aid to the young birds in 

 their ascent from the nest to the entrance, score the inside of the 

 board forming the front with a series of horizontal saw-cuts. Begin 

 an inch below the entrance, making them an eighth of an inch 

 deep and a quarter of an inch apart. The entrance should be cut 

 on an upward slant at an angle of sixty degrees, and have its 



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