OUR COMMON BIRDS 315 



the problem to the parents. The one preliminary to 

 having our valuable native birds numerous in our cities 

 and towns, and in many parts of the country as well, is 

 practical extermination of the English sparrow. If at the 

 time the pest was imported general attention had been 

 aroused to the necessity of protecting our native birds 



shrikes. Directions for poisoning sparrows, given on page 174 of the 

 Bulletin, are evidently not derived from adequate experimental data. 

 For example, arsenic is recommended. I have given this a thorough trial 

 during three winters, and while a few may be killed at first, their numbers 

 cannot be effectively diminished by its use. Strychnine sulphate is, according 

 to practical experience, the poison to use ; and with regard to its preparation, 

 the Bulletin is singularly inaccurate. It says : " Dissolve two grams of 

 strychnine in a liter of hot water." This is not possible, since this amount 

 of the pure alkaloid is not soluble in less than five liters of boiling water. 

 The directions further state : " Soak the grain in the poison solution at least 

 forty-eight hours," but they nowhere say how much grain to take. Strych- 

 nine sulphate is evidently meant, and two grams of this are readily soluble in 

 100 cubic centimeters of water. Lange (Our Native Birds, p. 76) falls into 

 the same inaccuracy. I am also obliged, on experimental grounds, to dis- 

 sent from the directions given by Lange, viz., " two small bottles of strych- 

 nine " to " nearly if not quite a peck of wheat." This is not strong enough, 

 as I have repeatedly caught sparrows poisoned by grain prepared in this way, 

 and they often recovered completely. 



My own formula is as follows : Dissolve one-eighth of an ounce of pow- 

 dered strychnine sulphate in one-half pint of boiling water. Pour this, while 

 hot, over two quarts of wheat (or cracked corn), stir well, and continue stir- 

 ring from time to time, until all the liquid is absorbed. Dry thoroughly, 

 without scorching, and put away in some safe receptacle, labeled 



POISONED GRAIN. STRYCHNINE. 



It requires but one kernel to kill a sparrow. A quart of wheat contains 

 about 23,000 kernels, and as a sparrow seldom takes more than two or three, 

 you have enough to rid the neighborhood of about 20,000 sparrows. Expose 

 the grain where poultry and tame pigeons cannot get it, and by operating 

 only during the winter there will be no danger of poisoning seed-eating wild 

 birds, at least for all northern towns and cities. By taking advantage of 



