e at least several rooms, each separate from all the
others. Houses have been built to accommodate fifty and more families.
Smaller ones are shown in Figs. 8, 9, 13 and 45.

[Illustration: FIG. 8. A MARTIN COLONY.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9. THE PEER GYNT COTTAGE FOR MARTINS.]

Fig. 9 is a miniature reproduction of Peer Gynt's cottage for a martin
house. This house was not only an attractive thing to make, but
martins selected it for their home during the past summer.

CONSTRUCTION OF BIRD HOUSES.

Bird houses may be divided into three main classes: (1) those made of
sawed lumber to specified dimensions; (2) the rustic type made of (a)
slabs of wood with the bark left on, or (b) pieces of tree trunk, or
(c) of sawed lumber trimmed with bark or twigs; and (3) cement or
stucco houses. In each case the entrance should slant slightly upward
to keep the rain out.

[Illustration: FIG. 10. WREN HOUSES.]

Almost any sort of lumber may be used, but birds take most readily to
that which has been weathered out of doors. A kind should be used
which does not warp or check badly; white pine and cypress meet these
requirements and are worked with ease. Yellow poplar is used and cedar
with or without the bark left on has its friends for houses of the
first or second classes.

Nesting boxes of sawed lumber should be painted on the outside to
improve their appearance and to preserve them against the effect of
the weather. It is often wise to leave a small amount of unpainted
surface around the entrance, and all paint should be thoroughly dry
before houses are expected to be occupied. Colors selected will depend
somewhat upon the neighborhood, but white, grey, dull greens or browns
are often used.

DIMENSIONS OF NESTING BOXES.

The following table, copied from Farmers Bulletin, No. 609, U. S.
Dept. of Agriculture, gives in small space valuable information about
dimensions that experience and investigation have indicated as good
for particular varieties of birds. This list includes many varieties
that do not commonly live in houses built for them, however. As time
goes on, we may expect to find more of these birds living in our
nesting boxes because they are apt to seek the same sort of home as
the one in which they were reared. The table is given to be of service
to those wishing to plan new houses not shown here.

_Dimensions of nesting boxes for various species of birds._

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