. Department circular. Agriculture. 25. Fig. 28. — Martin barrel. may be necessary. No pole is likely to be too high for martins. They seem to prefer a height of 20 or 30 feet. These birds fre- quently have nested in quiet places among trees and quite near houses, even in nesting boxes on poles on the roofs of wooden buildings or high city blocks, but they will not accept hidden nesting places where they have to fly in among the branches of leafy trees, and they seem to come most readily to a bird house situated in an open yard or on a wide lawn. They seem to prefer low ground to high ground,
. Department circular. Agriculture. 25. Fig. 28. — Martin barrel. may be necessary. No pole is likely to be too high for martins. They seem to prefer a height of 20 or 30 feet. These birds fre- quently have nested in quiet places among trees and quite near houses, even in nesting boxes on poles on the roofs of wooden buildings or high city blocks, but they will not accept hidden nesting places where they have to fly in among the branches of leafy trees, and they seem to come most readily to a bird house situated in an open yard or on a wide lawn. They seem to prefer low ground to high ground, and al- ways like the neighborhood of water. There- fore an open river valley suits them, but people not having these advantages need not despair, as martins often have nested on high ground, but rarely, I believe, far from water. A drinking and bathing foun- tain for the birds with running water might help to induce them to settle where other water is absent. A martin house may be made of any strong barrel (Fig. 28), and I have seen such boxes occupied for many years by these birds. The bottom of each entrance hole may be made level with the floor of its compartment, to facilitate cleaning out and to allow any water that may drive in to run out again, but it is well to have a gallery or veranda under the upper openings and over- hanging the lower. This and the projecting eaves should shed most of the rain. The entrance holes may be made 2| inches in diameter if square, or 2^ inches if round. Mr. J. Warren Jacobs of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, who probably has had more experience in building martin houses than any one else now living, recommends making each apart- ment 6 inches square and 7 inches high. Any box about this size may be used for the apartments, and all may be backed by a square box running up the center of the barrel into which a square pole will fit. The barrel may be attached to the pole by two angle irons and roofed with zinc. Every martin house should be well
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