152 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



only to have our worst fears fully realized. It contained the 

 skeletons of two or more baby orioles ! 



"J. W. Freese. 

 "17 Chauncy Street, Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 3." 



In certain States an attempt has been made to check the 

 increase of sparrows by means of bounties. But these are 

 nearly always worse than useless, as they bring about the 

 destruction of large numbers of native birds, and theoretical 

 considerations lead strongly to the conclusion that unless 

 enormous sums are expended for bounties very little perma- 

 nent good is accomplished. 



There have been cases, however, where, under proper 

 direction, a town has been kept fairly clear of these birds. 

 The following quotation from a letter received by the writers 

 from Mr. Rufus Kendrick, of Wakefield, Massachusetts, details 

 a plan that worked. After recounting instances in which he 

 had known the sparrows to interfere with nests of native 

 birds near his home, he went on to say : " I had cared for a 

 sparrow's nest as well as for the others, as I did not at that 

 time know the destructive qualities of the bird. Soon after, 

 I learned of other cases. Then I began my crusade. The 

 town, learning of their depredations, favored me with fifty 

 dollars. This, with many private contributions and another 

 fifty dollars from the town, is what I had to work with. I 

 began by paying one cent each for them, then, as they grew 

 scarce, I paid two, three, four, and five cents each for them. 

 I also paid one dollar per hundred for the eggs. The price 

 now is two cents for birds and one cent each for eggs. At 

 one time I had about fifty men and boys killing them. I took 

 in over one thousand the first year. This year, January 1 , I 

 paid premiums amounting to two dollars and a half for once in 

 three months. To the party bringing me the largest number 

 of birds in three months I paid one dollar, for the second 

 largest number seventy-five cents, for the third fifty cents, 



