270 



Bird -Lore 



use it. In order to give this matter a fair 

 test, the cooperation of the children was 

 sought in those sections of the city where 

 any native birds still remained. The 

 matter was explained to the elder children 

 of the schools, and they were asked to sus- 

 pend their bird-houses by a spring or wire 

 and to notice whether the English Spar- 

 rows interfered with them. 



In the fall, statistics w^ere obtained from 

 the children concerning the results. Re- 

 ports were received from 33 moving 

 houses. In 26 of them birds began to nest, 

 including 12 Bluebirds, 12 House Wrens, 

 3 Robins, i English Starling, and 6 English 

 Sparrows. Of these six, two pairs reared 

 their young, and others doubtless would 

 have done so had they not been driven 

 away by the children. Of the other twenty 

 birds, only six reared their young. Of the 

 fourteen that did not complete their nesting, 

 six were driven away by the Sparrows. Of 

 the six which did rear their young, three 

 were attacked by the Sparrows, but were 

 able to defend themselves successfully. 



These experiences indicate that the 

 moving house is a failure as a means of 

 outwitting the English Sparrow. Indeed, 

 much less difficulty was reported from 

 the stationary houses. Out of 27 from 

 which reports were received, birds began 

 to build in 24 and successfully reared their 

 young in 15, including 8 Bluebirds, 5 

 House Wrens, i Robin and i English 

 Sparrow. Three pairs of Sparrows began to 

 build, and three pairs of birds which had 

 begun to nest were driven out by the Spar- 

 rows. As far as the author's own experi- 

 ence goes, the Sparrows seem to show a 

 preference for the stationary house; but 

 these reports indicate that the preference 

 is a slight one, and that they quickly avail 

 themselves of an opportunity to occupy a 

 moving house if no others are near. 



The majority of reports indicated that 

 the Sparrows drove away the other birds 

 simply from the generally quarrelsome 

 nature of this troublesome nuisance, as, 

 in most cases, the Sparrows did not remain 

 to nest after driving out the first inmates. 



In some instances, the Sparrow inter- 

 fered with the House Wren, although the 



openings were made so small that the 

 Sparrows could not enter the house. They 

 were reported as remaining near the box 

 and worrying the Wrens as they were 

 bringing nesting material, till the Wrens 

 deserted the nest. 



In all the author's experience, the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow has proven an unmitigated 

 nuisance, and, apparently, the only effec- 

 tive way of getting rid of it is by use of 

 the rifle or shotgun, although this method 

 cannot, of course, be recommended to 

 the children. 



The only kind of nesting-box which the 

 author has used, the inmates of which 

 have never been troubled by the Sparrows, 

 is one made of an old tomato can with a 

 circle of wood, containing an inch hole, 

 fitted into one end. The opening is so 

 small and the house is so insignificant that, 

 apparently, it seems beneath the notice 

 of the Sparrow. A brood of Wrens has 

 been reared in this for four successive 

 seasons, and, during one summer, two 

 broods were reared. Possibly, this might 

 be a little safer from the attacks of the 

 Sparrow if it were suspended by a wire. 



Has any one found a successful method 

 of outwitting the Sparrow other than kill- 

 ing it, which might be recommended 

 to the use of the children?— Gilbert 

 H. Trafton, Supervisor of Nature Study, 

 Passaic, N. J. 



Robins Nesting in Bird-houses 



Five cases have been reported to the 

 writer of the Robin's beginning to build 

 in bird-houses, and one case of their suc- 

 cessfully rearing their young. Three of 

 these were in moving, and two in station- 

 ary houses. As these were the first cases 

 of this kind to which the attention of the 

 author had ever been called, he took 

 special pains to investigate each case as 

 much as could be done in the fall, and he 

 was convinced that in two instances, at 

 least, the reports had been correct. It 

 will be worth while for students to experi- 

 ment with houses containing openings 

 large enough to allow the Robin to enter. 

 — Gilbert H. Trafton, Passaic, N. J. 



