THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 



21 



easy to prepare and acts quickly. Wheat has proved to be a good bait 

 as well as an excellent vehicle for administering the drug. A con- 

 venient method of preparing poisoned bait is as follows: Put one- 

 eighth ounce of pulverized strychnine into three-fourths of a gill of 





FIG. 16. Diagram for cutting out the parts of a funnel trap 48X24X15 inches. 



hot water, add 1J teaspoonfuls of starch or wheat flour moistened 

 with a few drops of cold water, and heat, stirring constantly till 

 the mixture thickens. Pour the hot poisoned starch over 1 quart of 



FIG. 17. Receiving box for removing sparrows from traps. 



wheat and stir until every kernel is coated. Small-kerneled wheat 

 sold as poultry food, if reasonably clean, is preferable to first-quality 

 grain, being cheaper and more easily eaten by the sparrows. A 

 2-quart glass fruit jar is a good vessel to mix in, as it is easily shaken 



493 



