AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 135 



Grand Pass, Mo. 

 To entertain for an instant the idea that a colony of fighting, chatter- 

 ing English Sparrows, with all their filth, is desirable, especially in face 

 of the fact that instead we might be enjoying the mellow warble of the 

 Bluebird, the rippling song of the Wren, the liquid notes of the Martin 

 is absurd. A nuisance ! well I should say ! And ont that is increasing 

 at an alarming rate, too. Edgar Boyer. 



Earlville, N. Y. 

 In nearly all branches of the animal kingdom we find some species 

 which prey upon or harass the other members of the brauch. In the 

 heteroptera we have the assassin bugs, even in the human race we have 

 thieves and ruffians and the class aves is not an exception. The English 

 Sparrow is the bully of the tribe he is continually fighting with other 

 birds and even with his own kinsmen. I have in mind two particular 

 cases where this pest converted Clyde Williamson into their deadly 

 enemy. A Chipping Sparrows nest containing three birds five days old 

 was made a grave of the future currant-worm destroyers purely by the 

 vvanton cruelty of the ruffians. A Yellow Warbler's nest was sadly 

 rifled before incubation had hardly commenced, simply because the 

 innocent little mother had located her nest in a small maple next to a 

 roosting place of the Sparrows. These are but instances which occurred 

 within three or four rods of my back door. In the human race wehave 

 laws governing men who kill and thieve, so why not help our weaker 

 feathered friends in protecting their lives and property. I would sug- 

 gest that societies be organized for the destruction of this pest and 

 prizes offered for the greatest number taken by the separate individuals. 

 Of course the birds must be killed in the most humane manner possible 

 for they hav^e feeling, that is pertaining to themselves, as acute as any 

 living body but are certainly hard-hearted little pests, so to speak. 



Clyde Williamson. 



Worcester, Mass. 



I think the prosecution can well rest its case here and submit the evi- 

 dence to the jury, which, if it be a just body of men, cannot do other- 

 vvise than finda verdict of guilty of grand larceny, and murder in the 

 ürst degree, for which the penalty is death. 



Now the question comes, "How can we carry out this sentence and 

 Avho will be the executioners?" One man suggest that we arm the boys 

 with Steven's rifles, but while this excellent arm would be effective and 

 laseful in the hands of careful persons, of course it would be out of the 

 question to use them in densely populated cities. 



To my mind there are three ways to accomplish the desired effect. 

 The first has been tried and is known to be very effective: that is with 

 poison. Of course this should be used only by fully capable persons 

 who are thoroughly acquainted with the Situation. This method can 

 be used only in cities and at season when other birds are not about. 



A second plan and one which would accomplish a double object, would 

 be to influence all the enthusiastic egg collectors, to refrain from robb- 

 ing the wild birds of their treasures and to devote all their energies to 



