364 



Bird - Lore 



15 minutes most of them were back at 

 the old stand. A second volley was then 

 poured into them resulting in a very notice- 

 able diminution of the returning birds. 

 This second volley was fired just before 

 the street lights were turned on, at 7.45. 



The next evening the same tactics were 

 used and in addition to the firing of the 

 big candles from the ground, the Forester 

 placed three of his climbers high up in the 

 worst trees where they used some of the 

 weaker candles. This second night the 

 birds w^ere scattered over an area more 

 than twice that originally occupied. The 

 first volley was fired a little earlier, about 

 7.15. while the birds were still fluttering 

 about from tree to tree. The second volley 

 was fired ten or fifteen minutes later. 



An investigation the next morning 

 showed that the birds had been still more 

 widely scattered, covering about 1,500 

 feet on Washington Street and 300 feet on 

 Ward Street. The third and last evening, 

 15 men were used, placed about 100 feet 



apart in the middle of the street. The first 

 volley cleared out the whole flock and 

 only a few scattering birds returned, so 

 that only a few candles were needed in the 

 second volley. 



As a net final result, about eight dozen 

 candles were used at a total expense of 

 about fio and, at the end of a week, only 

 a couple of dozen birds are to be found 

 where there were thousands. Some idea 

 of the number of the birds, and the 

 annoyance caused, may be gathered from 

 the fact that people living near one of the 

 worst spots on the street were unable to 

 keep their windows open on account of 

 the filthy condition of the lawn and trees. 

 On another lawn, the grass for several 

 years, soon after the coming of the birds, 

 looked as if a fire had passed over it. One 

 resident says that for the first time in 

 years he had been saved the trouble of 

 hiring a man to wash off the walks in the 

 morning. — Lewis W. Ripley, Hartford, 

 Conn. 



A 'Call-note' 



The 'Call-note' Paid 



CHIPPING SPARROW AND COWBIRD 

 Photographed by Arthur A. Allen 



