ENGLISH SPARROW. 



97 



if they could be kept in check they might be tolerated 

 in the city, where they give a certain life to the streets 

 and ])arks and furnish some entertainment to children 

 and h()use-l)Ound invalids. 



It is in the suburbs and country that they are most 

 objectionable, for they drive away from dwellings and 

 barns the native birds which would naturally build 

 about them, and their incessant, unmusical cries 

 drown all other bird voices. Besides being of no use 

 — for they eat neither insects nor weed seeds in ap- 

 preciable quantities — they are positively injurious. 

 Tn the spring they eat the buds of fruit trees, par- 

 ticularly those of peach and pear trees, and of currant 

 and berry bushes and grape vines, while later they 

 peck at all kinds of fruit and green vegetables. They 

 also eat an immense amount of grain. 



As they are such undesirable tenants, it is worth 

 while in the country to make an effort to get rid of 

 them. A shot-gun used occasionally is effective in 

 keeping them from getting a foot-hold on a new place, 

 for they are quick to take a hint, and if one or tw^o 

 of a visiting flock are killed the others fly away and 

 usually do not return. Nests should be watched for 

 and destroyed — an iron hook at the end of a long 

 pole is useful in tearing them out. However numer- 

 ous these Sparrows have become anywhere, they may 

 be driven away by persistent shooting and destroying 

 nests. Poison is sometimes used — grain soaked in 

 arsenic or strychnine — but not many birds will be 

 caught by it, and it cannot be recommended as a safe 

 remedy. 



