46 FISH AND GAME. 



The control of the hunting house cat and vermin, the feeding 

 of the birds in winter, and the establishment of permanent 

 reservations, as well as taking away from the alien the right to 

 have shotguns and rifles, are the principal agencies to increase 

 our song and insectivorous birds. 



THE SPARROW. 



One of the greatest pests in Massachusetts is the English 

 sparrow, an introduced species. It is driving out the native 

 birds, and increasing at an alarming rate. The movement is 

 now being agitated throughout the country to substantially 

 reduce the numbers of these birds, and a real crusade is under 

 way, which meets with the hearty approval of your Commis- 

 sioners. We believe that a unified effort should be made to 

 exterminate or reduce this pest, provided, of course, that a plan 

 can be agreed upon which will result in the birds being hu- 

 manely killed. 



The work should be done by experts. In the overzealous 

 efforts of ignorant persons there is danger to our native spar- 

 rows, which are unrivaled as weed destroyers. These little 

 birds, which are both insectivorous and great eaters of weed 

 seeds, are most assuredly the friend of the farmer, and should 

 be made familiar to all. 



QUAIL. 



As stated in previous reports, we believe the quail offer the 

 most promising results in the artificial propagation of any of 

 our native game birds. Our game farm at East Sandwich is 

 devoted almost entirely to this work, and we also are con- 

 ducting some activities at the Marshfield Bird Farm. The 

 main lines of work consist in obtaining the largest possible 

 production of fertile eggs. These are hatched under bantams, 

 and at an early age the hens with the young birds are placed 

 on a range in natural quail country. Here the young, while 

 fed and cared for, are given every encouragement to "grow up" 

 and shift for themselves. We are of the opinion that the 

 proper time to distribute them is when their wild habits are 

 being developed, and when they are unaffected by too much 

 care and attendance. 



Various conditions combine to make the maintenance of our 



