BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1935, Page 21 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

A BIRD-HOUSE. This week, by special request, I am giving instructions for making a birdhouse, or aviary. If made to the. sizes given, it would be suitable for six or eight small birds, such as budgerigars. The house at the back-is provided with two compartments —one for sleeping quarters, and the other for nesting. At the front of the house is the flight cage, which has a small door to allow food and water to be passed in, and a removable tray at the bottom which can be sprinkled with sand. For the framework use battens one inch wide and three-quarters of an inch tnicx, and cut them to the length required to make it to the sizes given in the second diagram'. Make the two complete ftfe frames first, and nail the parts together at the joints. The ends of the sloping top parts of the house have to be cut at an angle to fit nicely in place. The ,cross parts at the top and bottom of the framework are one foot ten inches long. The lower end of the flight cage is filled in at the sides with two boards A,A, each six inches wide,, and across the front another board four inches is nailed, leaving a space of two inches at the bottom for the tray. Cut the front partition from quarterinch plywood, and nail it in place after the four doorways have been cut out. The floor of the top compartment can also be cut out of plywood and fixed in the position indicated by the dotted lines in the second diagram. , Planed boards, a quarter of an inch thick, can be used for filling in the side .and back of the house, and also for the roof, which should overlap about three inches. You will notice that two boards are arranged on the top of the flight cage to. afford additional protection for the front of the house. . The doors can be built up, as shown at C the upper one having a sloping top, *as indicated. These doors are hinged, and provided with turn-but-tons for fastening.

The small door in the flight-cage consists of rectangular frame made from one inch batten, filled in with half-inch wire netting, which is also used for covering the rest of the flight cage. Use strips of wood a- quarter of an inch thick for the sides, back and front of the tray, shown at D, and ordinary three-ply for the bottom. Screw two knobs into the front of the. tray, and fix a turn-button for fastening. The narrow platform in front of the top door openings, the swinging perch, and the fixed perches, must, of course, be fitted before the wire netting is nailed on. The Hut Carpenter.