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Things to Know and Do 249 and ready to be ornamented with any device, cutt' it with knife or file, into the owner’s totem, or the band or e tribal totems'which naturally suggest themselves. At one time the wood of the laurel was much used for spoons, hence the bush is still called “ spoon wood” in some regions. The design should-be sketched on with pencil or ink, then realized by shaping the outline with file or knife. The inner lines are merely scratched on the surface. In general, one should avoid changing the main outline of the spoon handle or cutting it enough to weaken it. Always, rather, adapt the animal to fill the desired space. There are several purposes the spoon can answer: First, as a spoon in camp, especially when prizes are ofiered to the camp that makes most of its own equipment; next, as a salable article; third, as an exhibition article when it is'desired to get up a fine exhibit of handicraft products illustrating camp life. Bird Boxes or Houses A good line of winter work is making bird boxes to have them ready for the spring birds. Two styles of bird houses are in vogue: one a miniature house on a pole, the other is an artificial hollow limb in a tree. F irst—the miniature cabin or house on a pole. This is very good for martins, swallows, etc., and popular with most birds, because it is safest from cats and squirrels. But most of us consider it far from ornamental. ' To make one, take any wooden box about six inches square, put a wooden roof on it (a in cut), then bore a hole in the middle of one end, making it one and one half inches wide; and on the bottom nail a piece of 2 inch wood with an inch auger hole in it (b). Drive in a nail or a perch below the door and all is ready for a coat of soft, olive-green paint. After this is dry, the box is finished. When you set it in place, the end of the pole is shaved to fit tight into the auger hole in the bottom, and the pole then set up, or fastened to the end of the building. In the latter case a six or eight foot pole is long enough. In some neighborhoods it is necessary to put tin as a cat and rat guard, on the pole, as shown (c and d). Some elaborate these bird houses, _ making a half dozen compartments. When this is done the pole goes right through the lowest floor and fits into a small hole __in the floor above. These large apartment houses are very popular with the