should be supplied with a padlock, as a safeguard against children and too-curious grown people. A handful of sawdust thrown into the bottom of each nest-hole will supply the place of the absorbent rotten wood to which these birds are accustomed.
It is claimed that the English sparrow will not nest in a swinging or moving house. If this is true we may
Bring the Martins Back
by supplying them with swinging houses made of dipper and bottle gourds, hung to brackets or to hoops and poles (Figs. 48 and 49).
Figs. 48 and 49.—Bottle Gourds Hung to Brackets.
The Gourds for Bird’s Houses
must be thoroughly dried, and doorways cut in each, near the bottom of the bowl. Never make the entrance to any sort of a bird-house on a line with the bottom of the house, for the nest will block the doorway.
Paint the Gourds
bright red, green, blue, and yellow, and fasten the small ends to the supports with copper wire, as shown in Figs. 48 and 49.