66 METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



persistent, quarrelsome, indefatigable nuisance, 

 which brings to naught so many efforts in be- 

 half of our native birds. The author feels very 

 strongly on this matter, on account of his ex- 

 perience with children, as supervisor of nature- 

 study. The children easily become enthusiastic 

 over building bird-houses, so that our suburbs 

 and towns might soon become thronged with our 

 beautiful and useful birds, were it not for the 

 English sparrow. But whenever the children put 

 out bird-houses, in the great majority of cases it 

 is the sparrow which is the tenant ; and after a 

 few experiences of this kind both children and 

 teachers naturally become discouraged and cease 

 their efforts. 



For a number of years the author has tried 

 various devices for outwitting the English spar- 

 row and has eagerly looked for any suggestion 

 along this line. At the outset, he must confess 

 that his efforts in this direction have proved 

 mostly failures, but he will give the results of his 

 experiences and of those of others concerning 

 which he has been able to secure any record. 



The various devices which have been used to 

 combat the sparrow may be grouped into two 

 classes : those whose purpose is simply to keep 

 out the sparrows without harming them; and 

 those which tend to decrease their numbers, 



