62 



Bird - Lore 



The first exercise in the school-room should be to draw the pattern, cut it 

 out, and pin it together. The best pattern should then be taken to mark the 

 roofing paper. In putting together the patterns, one soon learns the o.der in 



which the various steps should be 

 taken. Thus the perch and the 

 roof must be fastened to the piece 

 forming the sides before it is fast- 

 ened into cylinder form. The 

 circular piece cut out for the door 

 may well be used to reinforce the 

 front on the inside where the perch 

 is nailed in place. The very last 

 step is the nailing of the completed 

 house to its bottom, and this should 

 not be done until the bottom is 

 fastened by screws or face plate 

 to the top of the post or pipe 

 where the bird-house is to be per- 

 manently placed. It will be seen 

 from this that this house is in- 

 tended only for use on top of a 

 post, and the reason for this will 

 be stated later on. 



TT — S^^T^"" 



CORRECTLY BUILT BIRD-HOUSES 



These may be bought from the manufacturers or 



they may be made 



MEASUREMENTS 



Whatever material is used, the 

 exact size of the box is not of great 

 importance except that it should not be so large as to waste material, nor yet so 

 small as to give insufficient room for the nest. A box should never be smaller than 

 3^2 X 3^ x 6 inches inside measurements, and it is better to make it somewhat 

 larger, even for Wrens. In making bird-houses for the first time, it would be 

 well to make them of medium size so that they will be acceptable to the greatest 

 variety of birds. In this way the chances of attracting them are increased. Such 

 a box would measure about 4x4x9 inches inside with the long axis vertical. 

 If special effort is to be made to attract Flickers, Screech Owls, or Sparrow 

 Hawks, boxes 6^4 x 6^4 x 24 inches should be made. If Purple Martins are 

 desired, a house of from ten to thirty compartments should be constructed, 

 with each compartment 6 to 8 inches square. Rows of gourds tied to cross- 

 pieces and raised on poles will likewise attract Martins and are extensively used 

 in the South. If one wishes to build a large Martin-house, explicit directions 

 and working drawings can be obtained from Farmers' Bulletin No. 609, of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, entitled 'Bird-Houses and How to Build 

 Them.' All other bird-houses should be built with only one compartment. 



