always provided, is a good insurance for anxious bird land- 
lords to consider. Since ancient times, most birds have been 
familiar with wood in wild places, from the first day they 
picked their way out of the egg, and bark, slab, or rough | 
wood is a good footing for tiny claws to climb. A paint Of 
neutral gray or green, or a color the same as that of the 
- house to which the box is attached, will prevent cracking 
which causes drafts, so fatal to nestlings, and. will not offend 
the taste of winged house hunters. | 
A pair of wrens will sometimes accept a tomato can 
that is securely fastened in a shady spot. Some protec- 
tion should be given, as metal of any kind attracts and holds 
heat so that young wrens have died in such places; even 
when the parents, following their usual custom, have filled 
the can with as many as a thousand sticks, and burrowed 
out a nest in the middle of the mass. A concrete house on 
the other hand is too cold and would gather dampness, so, 
Ao spite of attractive pictures, it is wise to keep your money 
in your purse, and build your own birdhouses. 
Jt has been observed that although nests are built on 
swaying limbs, birds avoid the house that swings. The 
boxes should be securely fastened, preferably on posts, or 
against a tree, usually in the early autumn while the leaves 
are there to show the best location. Then they lose their 
odor of paint, and may, in case of storms, become places . 
of refuge for winter residents. Becoming used to such 
places, even the migrants may decide to go to housekeeping 
in their winter quarters. 
Such houses, however, should be cleaned in early spring, 
and a little powdered sulphur will destroy the insects 
that may have taken refuge in them. On this account a 
bird box should be hinged, so that a wall or the roof may be 
easily lifted. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 609 of the Department 
of Agriculture gives careful plans and directions for such 
boxes, and for bird shelters, but any boy or manual training 
class may work out this problem in a dozen different ways. 
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