A natural cavity in a root, cut from a rustic stump, or a short length of hollow limb, with a two-inch augur hole bored near the top, and a piece of board nailed over each end, makes an artistic nesting-place for birds. Some persons prefer a miniature cottage with compartments and doors; though birds will often nest in them, the simpler and more natural the home, the more suited it is to their wants. January Twenty-fourth A few minutes' work with hammer, saw, and knife, will convert any small wooden box that is nailed (not glued) together, into a respectable nesting-box. After it has been covered with two coats of dark green paint it is ready to be put in place. A shelf placed in a cornice, under a porch, or the eaves of a building, makes an excellent resting-place for the nest of a robin or a phoebe. Notes January Twenty-fifth Nesting-boxes may be placed almost anywhere that there is shade and shelter. They ought to be put beyond the reach of prowling cats and meddlesome children, at least fifteen feet from the ground, and to reap the benefit of your labor, they should be near your sitting-room window. January Twenty-sixth It is better not to put an old nest or any nesting material in the houses. Birds prefer to do their own nest building, and they have their notions about house furnishing, which do not agree with our ideas. Birds have often refused nesting-boxes simply because over-zealous persons had stuffed them with hay or excelsior. January Twenty-seventh The birds that nest in bird-houses are the ones which, if unprovided with them, would naturally choose cavities in stumps, tree trunks, hollow limbs and the like. Almost without exception this class of nest-builders will return to the same nest year after year, so once a pair has taken up its abode with you, you may expect to see the birds for several summers. [Illustration: PURPLE MARTINS.] Notes January Twenty-eighth The following are common tenants of bird-houses: Purple martin, bluebird, house wren, chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, and tree or white-breasted swallow. These birds are great insect destroyers, and most of them are sweet songsters, so they should be encouraged to take up their abode about our grounds. January Twenty-ninth After a deep fall of snow, the Northern shrike, or butcher-bird, is forced into the villages and towns for his food. Dashing into a flock of English sparrows, he snatches one and carries it back to the country to be eaten at his leisure. He is the bird that impales small birds, mice, and large insects on barbed-wire fences, or thorn bushes, after his stomach has been filled, and hence his name. January Thirtieth