To provide for a second nesting and possibly a third, the procedure should be the same as that described for the House Wren. See, therefore, directions given for that species.
The Western Bluebird fills the same role on the ranges and ranches that is taken on the smaller farms of the east by his eastern namesake. Build and place the house for the one precisely as for the other. The western bird seems much more inclined than the eastern to adopt nesting sites in or close to human dwellings.
The Mountain Bluebird will use the same type of house; its location, of course, should correspond with the local haunts of the species.
There is a peculiar satisfaction in successfully providing a house for those species, such as the Crested Flycatcher, which do not ordinarily resort to artificial nesting sites. It is something of a “feather in the cap.” Select a dilapidated orchard or an out-of-the-way woodside as a location for the Flycatcher’s house; place the house and await the results with expectations not too sanguine. Should fortune favor you with an opportunity to watch these birds building, remember to look for the famous dried snake skin almost invariably worked into the nest by this species, not forgetting that the reason for its use is still one of the mysteries. Measurements for the Flycatcher’s house will be found in Table I. See Plates Plate II and Plate III for styles of house recommended.
In general the woodpeckers choose to build their own houses. But as the Flicker is so unlike other woodpeckers in appearance and in certain of his well-known ways, it is not surprising to learn that he will readily take possession of an artificial bird house. Naturally, a woodpecker (and the Flicker is that) is scarcely an exception to the rule that bird-house tenants prefer something along the general lines of a woodpecker’s work. A section of a hollow trunk or branch of the proper dimensions inside may easily be transformed into an ideal Flicker house. Next best is the dugout type illustrated in Plate II. Finally, the semi-cylindrical or even rectangular house will do very well if the other specifications are about those given in Table I. The country or the suburbs, not too near to a residence, is the right environment for the Flicker.