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Douglass's birdhouse building business really started when he was a very young boy. He had always possessed a yen for building and a love for birds, so it was natural that he should take an interest in giving them a roof over their heads.

"I realized that if I were to attract the birds, I would have to assemble a birdhouse that would resemble a natural haunt," says Douglass. "While I was still a 'oungster in knee pants, I hit upon the idea of making birdhouses out of hollow-logs. Throughout the years, I have developed a large variety of bird dwellings in various sizes and shapes which are bound to please and fascinate most everyone."

In the experimental stage, Douglass labored long hours—using a three-inch carpenter's auger he discovered in an old barn.

"I spent much time on Saturdays and holidays and in the evenings making birdhouses from logs," recalls Douglass. "I discovered it was quite a chore remodeling the auger to fit the farm-post drill, locating the proper size logs, sawing them into the proper lengths, and experimenting in the actual work of drilling the house-cavity.

"This proved too much for a boy's arm, so I finally located a gas engine, which I tinkered with and got into running order. This I belted to the drill—the belt being fashioned from old auto tires. This was cut from a strip of smoothly worn tread and laced together with hog-rings, My first machines were very crudely made, but they did the job, until I could afford something better."

Persons visiting Douglass's workshop were attracted by the clever birdhouses and inquired if he would sell them.

"I was a highly honored youngster—to have my birdhouses thought good enough to warrant payment," says Douglass. "Of course I was eager to sell them, so right then and there I found myself in the birdhouse business."

AS THE years sped along, World War II broke and Douglass turned to repairing machinery, radios and television sets for a livelihood. There was always the yen present for building and making birdhouses, however, so as the orders continued to mount, Douglass was forced to give more and more attention to filling them.

The workshop which had first taken up a portion of his garage became too small for comfortable working quarters, so the building equipment was moved into a deserted chicken house. Here every extra minute he could salvage from his regular work was spent in making birdhouses.

"One day, I showed some of my hollow-log birdhouses to a hardware dealer in a near-by city and I received an order for a few dozen," Douglass says. "They were examined with real, eager enthusiasm, so this gave me encouragement to contact other stores."

As the orders came in larger and larger in number, Douglass found his machinery was too light for large production.

The chicken house was remodeled and wired to furnish current for the electric machines. A drill press equipped with automatic feed, two clutches, a reverse and all the gadgets that can be used in a drill press was finally installed.

Douglass now sells birdhouses for prices ranging from about 10 cents to $105 apiece. The latter ones are large twenty-one room dwellings which take many hours to complete. Most of the houses are sold by the case—from twelve to eighteen being packed in a case.

Behind the barn on Douglass's father's farm there is a large swamp woodland, which contains a variety of woods, but cedar, white-wood, and hemlock were selected for the birdhouses because of their appealing, durable wood. The trees were cut down, their limbs trimmed from the trunk—and the trunks hauled by truck to the workshop.

As the orders mounted, raw wood was purchased from other farm woodlot owners, and willow trees were discovered to be very good for fashioning birdhouses. These trees were plentiful, so that took care of the building material.

"This past winter I needed some cedar, so I purchased some from a woodlot owner in the Adirondack mountain area," says Douglass. "I purchased it by the truck load and was given a good bargain on it. It turns out some beautiful birdhouse models, too, and people seem to take a fancy to this type of wood."

AFTER THE logs have cured for a fair length of time, they are cut or sawed up into wood-chunk sections—according to the size of the birdhouse being made. Some of the tree trunks are only four inches in diameter, so they are cut about six inches long.

The next step is to put the six-inch piece in a clamp; which holds it securely while the large electric drill is pulled slowly down—boring out a hole extending from the top to about an inch from the bottom of the house. Stopping this far from the bottom creates a natural bottom for the house.

The drill cuts a two-, or three-inch diameter hole in the four-inch diameter wood-piece. Next, a two-inch hole is cut into the birdhouse to permit the bird to gain entry.

"There are many differences of opinion as to the correct size of cavities and entrance holes in birdhouses," says Douglass. "They may be varied and still serve the purpose, but some folks believe the holes have to be of one size and no other. This is wrong, for if a bird isn't a carpenter (like the woodpecker) he will take what he can find. I use one-inch holes for the wren houses, one and a half- or two-inch for the blue bird, and two and one-quarter-inch for the purple martin."

The roofs of the houses are made in a variety of ways. Some of the houses have a roof sloping on two sides with a little eye screw attached to the top to allow it to be hung from the tree branches.

For this kind of a roof, the birdhouse log has to be trimmed in a sort of "upside down" figure V—to allow the roof to be fitted snugly to the house. Two six-inch square boards are dipped in hot wood-preserving stain and after they are dried are nailed or fashioned with hinges to the house. At the very top a narrow piece of metal ridge joins the two roof parts and prevents rain from seeping through.

On the bottom a round board an inch thick is nailed, which overlaps the house circumference about one inch. This portion allows the birds to perch, before entering the house.

This particular birdhouse can be fitted or mounted on a pole by screwing a ½-inch floor flange on the bottom. These types of birdhouses are made in wren size, bluebird and flicker sizes. They are sold for $3, $4 and $7.50 respectively.

The houses may be had with various styled roofs, some of them being made with round, umbrella-type roofs. Wood sections have to be cut and matched together to form the round roof. A metal ridge joins the jointing seam and keeps the nest dry and protected inside.

Another roof style is made with a one-piece top. A six-inch square piece of wood is fitted in a slanting manner to the top. The main body of the house has to be angled and sawed off correctly, of course. Then the back of the house is fitted with a board—running about two inches higher than the rest of the house. The back of the bouse has to be sawed up and down—sliced off correctly to allow the board to fit closely.

This type of house is called the "bracket type" and has two holes located near the top of the back for nailing to a tree, trellis, building, post, etc.

All of the birdhouses have the natural bark of the tree left upon them, so they resemble a natural haunt or a hole in a tree. They are actually small logs hollowed out—leaving strong walls with bark intact for natural appearance. There is no finish applied to the logs, for if the logs are cut at the proper time, properly cured and the proper construction used, the bark will last for many years.

Only the roof boards used in fashioning the house are treated with wood preserving stain.

The roofs on the houses are screwed on with zinc coated screws. The screws can be removed for cleaning the old nest out, and then put back into place. Others may be purchased with the bottom coming free and allowing the nest to be cleaned out in much the same way.

LAST WINTER, Douglass added a new item to his birdhouse line—a hollow-log feeder which matches the birdhouses. The hollow-log is open at both ends, built with a peaked roof, complete with a copper ridge and eye for hanging.

The feeder is also an original idea of Douglass's and has become popular among the buying public. A bird-diet of suet, peanuts, sunflower seed, millet, and hemp is arranged in such a manner that it is easily accessible to the birds. Refills are provided in cellophane bags, packed in paper cartons ready for inserting into the hollow logs. The feeders sell for $2.75 and refills may be purchased at four for $3.

The bird-feeders are made six-inches long with a hole three inches in diameter. A hole is drilled completely through the log, so that the birds can feed on either side. Douglass fashions the bird feeders with a V-shaped roof to which he attaches an eye screw, so that the bird feeder may be hung from the tree branches.

HOW DID Douglass get started in selling the birdhouses throughout the country? One day as he was glancing through a copy of a merchandising magazine, he got the idea of advertising for a manufacturers representative. A short time later he received a letter from a representative in the middlewest, who was interested in carrying additional items in his line, which was directed to the garden-trade.

"I wrote to this representative and explained to him what type of birdhouses I was making and how they differed from others offered on the market," explained Douglass. "My letters aroused his interest and he requested samples of my work. After he had seen them, he saw great possibilities in them, so agreed to handle them on a percentage basis."

The manufacturers representative wrote him an eager letter in a short time, after showing the birdhouses around in various garden stores. He told Douglass that he was amazed himself at the popularity of the houses.

"I have placed some of my birdhouses with the Massachusetts Audubon Society sales room, Vaughn's of Chicago, the Earl May Seed Company, the Berry Seed Company, The Ace Hardware of Chicago, Weed & Company of Buffalo and Rochester, and Macy's of New York," says Douglass. "Most all of these are reordering from time to time and also expressing delight in my little bird feeder item."

Douglass also has a manufacturers representative selling his birdhouses to stores and concerns in the Massachusetts area, but the hobbyist is continually placing and hunting up markets for his birdhouses, too.

"I have made up a sample case that holds four of the most popular houses," Douglass says. "There is a compartment in the cover for literature and an order book. I have been loading my car with hollow-log houses and displaying my product in seed stores, pet shops, hardware and department stores and gift shops. I have been getting orders from ninety per cent of the places I visit—mostly stores which sell garden supplies. It seems to fascinate and please folks to set up a birdhouse and watch its first occupants as they look it over, make their nest and raise their family.

"I have received orders from sanitariums and hospitals, as watching birds provides an excellent pastime for patients."

Not too long ago, Douglass was surprised to receive a letter from a pony-rancher who wanted a birdhouse of each of the models he was making to erect on his ranch—plus a few to sell to the ranch visitors.

Not knowing what the exact price would be for these birdhouses and knowing that Douglass had gained an honest reputation among his buyers, the customer enclosed a blank, signed check.

"That order I believe pleased me the most of any I ever received—even if I've had larger and big name buyers," says Douglass. "It proved to me that folks were recognizing my business as honest and reliable. This is something that pleases anyone starting a new business."

Not only does Douglass's yard sport hollow-log birdhouses, but also the yards of the neighbors and friends.

"I have a large martin house with an active colony of martins," says Douglass. "There were no martins in this section, until I erected a martin house and it took nearly ten years before I had a colony. It takes time and patience to build up a bird population. Once they are established, however, they are priceless. A bird population affords endless hours of pleasure—from the time they return in the spring, build their nest and rear two or three broods. They consume hordes of injurious insects, and the baby birds grow very rapidly on such a diet. The gathering of insects in the garden and the drama of watching the mother bird feed her family are invaluable attractions, that exceed any box-office commercial entertainment.

"I was very amazed the other day, when I received an inquiry from Hong Kong, China. The order was from an investment company asking for literature on my birdhouses, feeders and wholesale prices."

DOUGLASS'S MARRIED sister, Elva, and her husband have come to his aid in making the birdhouses. A neighbor across the street also helps out in the little birdhouse workroom part-time, too.

It is the duty of the neighbor to drill the cavities into the birdhouses. It is a ticklish business to get the knack of running the drill, as the blocks have to be clamped in just right and the hole drilled correctly. The blocks have to be kept straight and centered, the auger sharp, and there are lots of levers and adjustments to operate, to compensate for the different sizes of blocks being used.

"My sister's duties are to do staining, sanding, drilling holes to the house entrance, holes for the screws, packing and various other duties," says Douglass. "All in all, there are enough jobs to keep all scurrying about the shop to get out the orders on time. Elva's husband keeps the machines in shape, makes special jigs and equipment, as well as working on the various building operations. We all have our special jobs to follow up, until the birdhouses leave our shop ready to hang."

Douglass has found his birdhouses an easy product to sell, for once he enters a pet shop, garden-store or some other establishment that takes an interest in nature or animal life he has something in common with them. It isn't long before Douglass is chatting with the store managers about birds and gardens, as though they had known each other for years.

Special shipping boxes are made up for Douglass to ship his houses across the nation. The company he buys them from measured the houses for size and then made boxes for shipping them. These are made up for a few cents apiece in large quantities. He also buys over-runs of various sizes for shipping mixed orders.

Douglass showed his line of birdhouses in Chicago at the Garden Supply Show last winter and later at the National Garden Supply Trade Show in New York. He has found that the persons visiting such shows are friendly folk, and orders usually find their way in his direction.

There are always store-buyers visiting these types of shows and looking for new items to add to their lines, so it pays to exhibit at such gatherings.