78 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 
story windows, which the sparrows have not yet en- 
closed in their list of proscribed localities. 
The destruction of the sparrows must not be left to 
small boys. In towns and cities the work should be 
undertaken by competent persons authorized or engaged 
by the municipality. Great care must be exercised 
in handling strychnine. 
Where the measures just described are carried out, 
the sparrows will not become too numerous in gardens, 
in parks, and on farms. They will be largely restricted 
to the business streets of towns and cities and to other 
localities that are not inhabited by native birds. 
It is not impossible that our native birds will to some 
degree accustom themselves to the sparrows. Robins, 
purple martins, red-headed and downy woodpeckers, I 
think, have already learned to hold their own success- 
fully. Last winter I watched a downy woodpecker 
examining a soft maple. A sparrow drew up very 
close as if he intended to learn the downy’s trade ; 
suddenly the little carpenter turned upon his specta- 
tor and gave him a vicious peck, and the sparrow with- 
drew to a more respectful distance without an attempt 
at retaliation. 
Moreover, the plucky, wary little creatures certainly 
deserve some consideration if not even a little admira- 
tion. I must confess that I prefer a flock of spar- 
rows in my back yard to the shroud-like loneliness 
of snowdrifts; and in its habits and its conquest of the 
world the sparrow is undoubtedly one of the most 
interesting birds. He is an unequivocal imperialist 
