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BIRD HOUSES. 
Birds appreciate houses and other artificial shelter, 
and will usually accept any accommodations we may 
provide for them ; hut they have their preferences, and 
while perfectly indifferent to the fashion and beauty of 
their habitations, they naturally seek for retirement 
and secrecy. Consequently, a dilapidated stove-pipe 
hat, with a hole in the top and nailed against a retired 
wall, will he more readily occupied than the most 
wonderfully-carved and 
highly-colored pagoda 
perched prominently on 
a pole. The less con¬ 
spicuous bird houses 
ate, the better; all 
elaborate, gaudy affairs 
in imitation of temples 
and other buildings are 
to be condemned, both 
as unsuitable and • as 
contrary to good taste. 
The most artistic 
bird houses are of rustic 
construction. A strong, 
rain-proof box of rough 
boards serves as a foun¬ 
dation. The size and 
shape of the box is sim¬ 
ply a matter of taste 
and convenience, but it 
must be provided with 
a. roof. Shed and gable 
roofs are most easily 
made, but curved or 
gambrel, and hip or 
fohr-sided roofs are 
more fanciful. The 
floor of the house should 
project an inch or two 
beyond the walls, mak¬ 
ing a sort of step or 
perch. Two round or 
oval holes two inches 
in diameter must be 
made for doors, and the 
house is ready to be 
covered with strips of 
bark or of some straight ■ 
splitting wood nailed on. 
The “rustic” appear¬ 
ance is further increased 
by nailing on crooked 
twigs or roots. A very 
beautiful house could 
be made by covering it 
with pieces of bark 
from which bits of gray¬ 
ish-green dry moss are 
growing, and adding 
tufts of the same kind 
of moss here and there. 
In fact, any kind of rus¬ 
tic work used for hang¬ 
ing baskets is suitable 
for bird houses. An ordinary paint-keg, stood on end 
with a hole in the side, and a gable roof, makes a very 
good house. It can be painted, or covered with bark 
and twigs. 
To make a nice martin house, take two soap-boxes, 
and put two cross partitions in each, dividing each box 
into four rooms. Nail one of the boxes on a board of 
sufficient size to allow a two-inch projection all around. 
Prepare the other box in the same manner, and nail 
its bottom to the top of the other box. Put a piece on 
each side of the house to fit it properly for the roof, 
and with two boards make a gable roof. Furnish 
each room with a two-inch door, and the house is com¬ 
plete, except the outdoor finish. Paint a deep brown 
or slate, or sand it over with clean, dark sand, or cover 
it in rustic style. 
Old tin pans, nailed against the walls of out-build- 
they be mounted on poles, fastened against walls, or 
suspended from limbs of trees. Mrs. M. F. A. 
Aquarium and Plant Case. 
ings and painted brown, are not disdained by the birds 
for housekeeping purposes. Large sized tin fruit-cans, 
placed on the side and securely held in place by wires 
or other means, are also acceptable. Care must be 
taken not to put tin houses where the sun’s ray will 
strike them long, as the reflection will make it too hot 
for the birdlings. Attention must also be given to 
placing the bird houses out of the reach of cats, whether 
STATUARY TRANSPARENCY. 
A beautiful and striking statuary transparency that 
I recently saw. hanging in a parlor window is different 
from anything I-have noticed described in the Cabinet. 
The method of preparing it is quite simple, but calls 
for tolerable skill in drawing. Wash a piece of ground 
glass clean with soap 
and water, rinse thor¬ 
oughly and dry with a 
towel. Fix it firmly in 
some way convenient 
for drawing, and clearly 
trace the outlines of a 
group of statuary on the 
ground- side. If expert 
at drawnng you may de¬ 
sign your own group, 
or copy from some 
good model, directly on 
the glass. If not suf¬ 
ficiently skilled for this, 
place a wood-cut, pho¬ 
tograph, or drawing on 
the smooth side of the 
glass, with the face of 
the picture next to the 
glass. The picture will 
show'through distinctly, 
and the outlines can be 
easily traced correctly. 
Shade carefully with 
soft drawung pencils, 
and touch the high 
lights with pure mastic 
varnish, and if there is 
anything of the artist in 
your nature, you will 
be able to produce the 
true statuary effect. 
When finished satisfac¬ 
torily, fill in the ground¬ 
work of the glass with 
opaque black, either 
water colors or oil, or 
with any of the trans¬ 
parent oil colors. Prus¬ 
sian blue, crimson or 
scarlet lake, or purple 
(by mixing crimson 
lake with Prussian 
blue). Exercise the 
greatest care w'hen ap¬ 
plying the color around 
the edges of the picture 
that the sharp, clear 
outline may not be dis¬ 
turbed. When dry, 
take a piece of plain 
glass of the same size 
and place it over the 
painted side, and bind 
the two together by gumming narrow strips of paper 
or ribbon over the edges. Mrs. M. F. Adkinson. 
In washing wdndows, a narrow'-bladed wmoden 
knife, sharply pointed, w'ill take out the dust that 
hardens in the corners of the sash. Dry whiting will 
polish the glass, which should first be w'ashed with 
weak black tea mixed with a little alcohol. 
sTC 
