For such birds as woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice and chickadees a deep narrow nest is essential. The accompanying working drawing gives the dimensions for the largest size - that adapted to the industrious red-headed woodpecker, but the reader will have no difficulty in making the necessary reductions to bring the house into conformity with the foregoing table for the other members of this family. All of the pieces may be cut from two boards, if they are marked out as indicated in the drawing. Use three-quarter-inch lumber, as it is a great mistake to make bird houses of thin box material that only warps so as to make the seams gape after the first rain. Birds will not tolerate a house with open seams or cracks.

The distinctive feature of this house is the method by which the bottom is arranged so as to be readily removable when it is desired to clean out the house in the spring for new tenants. The bottom board is made just large enough to slip inside and carries a wooden button pivoted on a screw on the underside. A square groove is cut on the inner surface of both the front and back boards, so that when the button is turned its ends will engage these grooves and hold the bottom securely in place. Birds of the woodpecker family are especially industrious and usually build a new house each year. It will therefore be apparent that adequate facilities for cleaning are quite necessary if we expect the same birds to return.

The construction is otherwise too simple to require comment. Nail together securely, set the heads of the nails deeply and putty over. A coat of green, dark gray or brown paint will add not only to the life but to the appearance of the house, and a simple strip run around the front will aid greatly in relieving the plainness which is unavoidable in deep houses of this sort.

When the house is to be placed in a tree, a good plan is to cover it with bark, or else construct it from pieces of wood from which the bark has not been removed.

As a woodpecker gathers no nesting material, a little sawdust should be placed in the bottom.