On the Construction of Houses for the Purple Martin 13 



MARTIN HOUSE NO. 



screws or nails, and made of 

 old buggy tire at the black- 

 smith shop, will serve as the 

 safest means of fastening the 

 box to the top of the pole. 

 Wooden braces or supports 

 of any kind reaching from 

 the pole to the edge of the 

 box should be avoided, if 

 you wish to deprive your 

 neighbors' cats of an occa- 

 sional feast on Martin flesh. 

 The tools necessary for con- 

 structing this box are ordi- 

 nary carpenters' savy and 

 hammer, a brace and ^- 

 inch bit for starting the 

 openings to the rooms, and 

 a compass-saw for enlarging 

 and squaring the same. For constructing more elaborate bird -houses, 

 other wood-working tools will be needed and a work-bench with a strong 

 vise is desirable. 



Two designs are selected from photographs of bird-houses I have built, 



and the floor and roof plans 

 are given to aid those who 

 wish to build elaborate 

 houses. To go into detail 

 and describe these plans 

 would take up much valu- 

 able space, and be so tedious 

 to follow that many persons 

 would become confused and 

 discouraged at the begin- 

 ning; therefore, I give a brief 

 description here, and add 

 figures, measurements and 

 explanations to the plans as 

 a further help. 



The principal points are 

 to get the rooms a suitable 

 size, and the openings rightly 

 placed and of the proper 

 dimensions. 



MARTIN HOUSE NO. 2 



