Page:How to have bird neighbors (IA howtohavebirdnei00patt).pdf/136

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  • fully painted and placed in the shade. But, even with

these precautions, I would discourage its use. People are so apt to forget about placing it in the shade! I have seen birds' nests in tin cans with little skeletons embedded in them, the birds having been smothered by the intense heat which metal will store.

Enough wooden boxes are discarded by grocers, druggists, and other merchants to stock the country every year with bird houses. If our fathers and mothers will encourage the making of these discards into bird houses, shelters, and feederies, it will mark a step forward in bird protection.

FOOD HOUSE, MADE OUT OF WASTE MATERIALS

Food houses should be protected so that other animals cannot mount and monopolize them, keeping the birds at bay. The red squirrel will do this unless the food tray is at least five feet above ground and the post well sheathed in tin.

My newest food house has the lid of a cheese box as tray and the top of a sugar barrel as roof. This flat surface is a