BIRD HOUSE MATERIAL 



17 



After this an entrance hole of the required size 

 is made through the shorter or front half. 



The two halves are hollowed out, as shown 

 in Plate 19, so as to form a cylindrical cavity 

 about three and one-half inches in diameter 

 and ten inches deep; then the two halves are 

 placed together and held with screws or bolts. 

 A similar Bird Home is made by boring an 

 auger hole from one end of a piece of limb to 

 within a couple inches of the other, plugging 

 the bored end, and making an entrance hole 

 near the other end. These homes are adapted 

 to woodpeckers, bluebirds, house wrens, chick- 

 adees and tree swallows. A little larger home 

 of the same type is required for crested fly 

 catchers and decidedly larger ones for the 

 nicker. 



A good sized, deserted flickers' home or 



similar cavity provides a nesting place attrac- 

 tive to the screech owl. 



A piece of wooden tubing from a chain- 

 pump, with the ends plugged, and an entrance 

 made in the side near the upper end, the tube 

 being covered with bark, makes a very good 

 substitute for a hollow limb. 



If old and weather stained boards are used 

 in making the box houses, bark covering is 

 not absolutely necessary, but it adds to the 

 attractiveness, from both the birds' and the 

 human standpoint, and bark affords a good 

 foothold for the birds as they alight at the 

 entrance. Woodpeckers especially should 

 have bark covered exteriors to their homes. 



Dried gourds, hollowed out, and with an 

 opening made for an entrance, often attract 

 wrens and bluebirds. 



