Page:How to Have Bird Neighbors.pdf/146

 make the partitions only 6-1/2" high. They need not be nailed, but may be dovetailed, like partitions in an egg box.

To make the house so it can be easily opened, for cleaning or to rout the English sparrows, fasten the box for lower story in the center of the base by means of screw eyes and hooks, two on a side. The projecting part of the base will form a 5"-wide porch all around, a convenience which martins greatly enjoy. The ceiling is allowed to project 2-1/2" at the front and back to form porches for the upper rooms. Add a gable ample enough to afford at each end a room 6" wide and 7" high. In the upper end of the partition between these two rooms, cut a hole 2-1/2" in diameter. The reason for this is stated on page 88, paragraph 2. The slanting roof should project 2-1/2" all around. Finish it with a flat top as shown in the first cut on page 128. Add posts 1" × 1" × 4" on which to staple wire or doweling as perches for the martins. Fasten these little posts to the flat roof by screws from beneath, before nailing it to the house.

Now fit the pole to the central space and screw it securely to the cleats under the base, and the pole with the house on it is ready to be set up. The martin house should be at least fifty feet away from a tree or building, and fifteen feet above ground.

To mount the martin house so it can be easily let down to be cleaned or to rout the English sparrows, place the two posts four inches apart and have them at least six feet high. Set the pole holding the martin house between them and secure it with two bolts about four feet apart, the lower bolt being 1-1/2 feet from the ground. To lower the house, remove the lower bolt and tilt the pole, as shown in the second cut on page 128. The posts should be creosoted and sunk five feet in cement.

This cut shows a block and tackle being used to tilt the pole. A further precaution against having the house crash to the ground would be a shears made of rough two by four scantling, which can be obtained in twelve-foot lengths. In making the shears, bolt the scantlings two feet from the top with an ordinary half-inch carriage bolt, and tie the bottoms so the legs will not spread too much.