No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 101 



house and yet allow the martins to do so? A. It may be if the entrance holes 

 are closed up until the martins come; then open them. The young martins 

 which occupy the new boxes generally do not come until May, — perhaps 

 late in May, sometimes in June. The sparrows ordinarilj'' will have built 

 their nests before that time. In any case they "will have a fair fight for 

 the boxes, and the sparrows will not have a chance to get the hole fuU of 

 nesting material before the martins come. 



16. Q. Do you know of any successful trap or method for exterminating 

 the English sparrow? A. A trap invented by Dr. Fisher, of the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Washington, District of 

 Columbia, has been quite successful, and there are some others. Poison- 

 ing will work well also in the winter. I assume that you are familiar with 

 the Biological Survey Bulletins, in which these methods are described 

 (also with Circular 48 of the State Board of Agriculture) . 



17. Q. Can the interior of a martin house he treated in any manner to give 

 it the appearance of age or as though it had been previously occupied? A. 

 Sometimes the wood is rubbed with mud, but I am not sure that this is 

 any advantage. 



18. Q. Would a coat or two of Portland cement on the interior surface of 

 each room do so? A. I would not use it; it would make the house too 

 heavy. 



19. Q. Is it an advantage to arrange a house so that it can be lowered and 

 opened for cleaning each year? A. By all means do so. 



20. Q. Of what material is a marthi's nest composed? A. Martins use 

 straw, feathers, etc., sometimes leaves, and usually in this region they 

 get quite a little mud to work into the nest. 



21. Q. Would a vane upon the top of the house he objectionable, and if so, 

 why? A. It might be, if it moved very much, as martins like to perch 

 on top of a house, and do not care for a movable perch. 



22. Q. Would perching poles or wires attached to the house be an advantage, 

 and if so, what diameter wire should be used, or tvhat should he the sectional 

 shape of the pole? A. No advantage whatever; any shape you wish. 



23. Q. How near to a house, barn or other building can a martin house be 

 placed? A. I never saw one occupied which was less than 20 feet from 

 a building. They should not be very near buildings or large trees. 



24. Q. At what time in the spring do the martins arrive in the vicinity of 

 Springfield, Massachusetts? A. Sometimes the old martins, which come 

 early and nest early, come in by the 6th or 8th of April, but this is un- 

 usual. Often martins are here by the 20th, but yearling birds come later. 



25. Q. Do martins show any preference for any particular side of a house 

 in nesting, either north, south, east or west? A. They often make use of the 

 compartments on the north side of the house last. 



26. Q. Do they prefer a house on either high or low ground? A. Low, 

 rather open ground is preferred to high or wooded land, but they some- 

 times nest on high ground. A broad river valley is a good place for 

 martins. 



