[Illustration: Illustrated capital L]
Lacking the semi-domestic status of wren and martin, the Black-capped
Chickadee is not a regular bird-house addict. He prefers the seclusion
of some unfrequented wood. Yet, not uncommonly, he is enticed by a bird
house. The specifications and illustrations for the wren house will do
for the chickadee. However, a cylindrical and smaller chamber with
somewhat larger entrance (1-1/8 inch) is more likely to appeal to his
uneducated taste. He is still a bird "with the bark on," and his house
should be quite literally in keeping. The author personally much prefers
to select a hollow branch, from which he cuts a foot-long section. He
then drills an entrance hole near one end, nails a piece of slab in
place for the bottom, provides a removable lid of the same material, and
thus constitutes himself a proxy for the Downy Woodpecker in providing
the chickadee with a home. (See Plate II.)
[Illustration: Figure 2. A Chickadee Family.]
A wood lot or a neglected old orchard bordering a wood is the place for
the chickadee house. See Table I for measurements.
_Other Chickadees_
The Mountain and other chickadees share the natural nesting habits of
the Black-cap. Since this group is composed of birds of practically
uniform size, a house for any species should be the same as that
described for the Black-cap.
However, chickadees are in general birds of the woods. Few or none come
so near to being birds of "home grounds" as do the Black-caps. Houses
for them, therefore, will be appropriate chiefly about woods homes or
camps.