THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 



DRIVING SPARROWS FROM ROOSTS. 



Sparrows frequently become a nuisance by roosting in ornamental 

 vines and in crevices about buildings. If scared out late at night, 

 several nights in succession, they will usually desert the roost. A 

 stream of water from a garden hose is a potent ejector, particularly 

 on frosty nights. Where' water is not available small Roman candles 

 may be employed. 



Though sparrows may be driven from a given neighborhood, the 

 relief thus obtained is only temporary, and has the further objection 

 that the nuisance is simply transferred elsewhere. More drastic 

 action is therefore preferable. 



PREVENTION OF INCREASE. 



The most effective method of preventing the increase of sparrows 

 in a locality is to destroy their nests at intervals of 10 or 12 days 

 throughout the breeding season. In a town 

 of 4,000 inhabitants, where this method of 

 attack has been practiced during the past 

 four years, 20,000 eggs have been de- 

 stroyed and the number of sparrows has 

 been greatly reduced. This work, how- 

 ever, should not be entrusted to boys or 

 persons unfamiliar with the native species, 

 as otherwise valuable birds may be de- 

 stroyed under the belief that they are 

 English sparrows. Occasionally they 

 build large covered nests in trees, but as a 

 rule they build open nests in bird houses, 

 electric-light hoods, cornices, waterspouts, 

 and similar places. While it is often difficult to reach nests by hand, 

 they can usually be torn down by means of a long pole having an iron 

 hook at the tip. By concerted and continuous efforts to destroy every 

 nest after the eggs are laid, the numbers of English sparrows in any 

 locality may be rapidly reduced. 



METHODS OF DESTROYING. 

 CATCHING ON NESTS. 



The sparrow's habit of nesting in cavities can be turned to account 

 against it. By providing one-room bird houses, similar to those 

 illustrated in figures 3 and 4, or even packing boxes or tin cans, and 

 putting them in trees or on poles or buildings at a height of about 

 10 feet, the birds may be captured after dark with a long-handled 



:;i_'.Vl4 Bull. 49312 2 



FIG. 3. Nest box opening at 

 the top. 



