104 COMMON SENSE 
perfectly firm, being held in V-shaped spaces between cleats—the 
same as those used in the large house. 
The nests, or rather nest boxes, were a part of the house. In 
the figure is shown a section of the house, where it will be seen 
that the nests form a row along the back, being covered with a 
slanting board. ‘Ihe nests are simply a little fine marsh hay laid 
on the ground. The hay and eggs are kept in place by a 4 inch 
board which runs along the front of the nests. Each nest is a 
compartment by itself, divided off from the one on each side of it 
by a board which reaches up to the under surface of the slanting - 
board. Indeed, the latter rests on the tops of these division 
boards. ‘The nests are accessible from the outside, so that the 
poultry keeper need never enter the house. ‘The way to get at 
them is to let down the board which runs across the entire back of 
the house, and is hinged to the stationary board below it. Both 
the side door and the door giving admission to the nests are pro- 
vided with hasps, so that they may be locked by means of one of 
those cheap cast iron padlocks known as “jail locks.” Such a 
contrivance is proof against sneak thieves. A burglar would break 
the whole house up in half a minute, so there is no use in putting 
on strong and costly locks. 
~ Along the front is a row of pickets, to prevent the birds from 
flying over. The pickets are 16 inches long, being simply laths cut 
into three parts. 
On each corner there are handles consisting of pieces of boards 
shaved into such a shape as to be easily grasped by the hand. 
They are firmly secured to the front and back by means of wrought 
nails, clinched. Four stout boys have no difficulty in picking up 
one of these houses and moving it wherever it is wanted. Indeed, 
two men can do it. 
The inside of the house—sides, ends and roof—are lined with 
tarred paper, nailed to cleats one inch thick, which are fastened to 
the house as detailed in our description of the large house. This 
makes the house very warm, and the matched boards make it per- 
fectly rain proof. To protect it from the’ weather it was coated 
