22 THE ENGLISH SPAEROW AS A PEST. 







and allows the condition of the contents to be seen. If the coated 

 wheat be spread thinly oh a hard, flat surface, it will be dry enough 

 for use in a short time. It should be dried thoroughly if it is to be 

 put into jars and kept for future use. Dishes employed in preparing 

 poison may be safely cleansed by washing. 



Other seeds, as oats, hemp, or canary seed, may be used instead of 

 wheat in the above formula, but they are less economical because 

 much of the poison is lost Avhen they are hulled, though enough of 

 it usually sticks to the mouths of the sparrows to produce fatal 

 effects. As wheat has no hull that a sparrow can remove, it is ordi- 

 narily preferable to other seeds. Bread, in thin slices, spread with 

 the strychnine-starch mixture may be used to advantage alternately 

 with seeds. 



In case it is impracticable to poison sparrows at their regular feed- 

 ing grounds, they may be attracted to a suitable place by preliminary 

 baiting. In northern latitudes the best time to put out poison is 

 just after a snowstorm, when other food is covered. The feeding 

 place should be cleared of snow and the poison laid early in the 

 morning. The poison should be well scattered, so that many birds 

 may be able to partake at the same time, since after a few are affected 

 their actions excite the suspicion of their comrades. Usually a few 

 sparrows get only enough strychnine to paralyze them for a few 

 hours, after which they recover. It is important, therefore, to visit 

 the feeding places a short time after distributing poison to prevent 

 such birds from escaping. It is well also to remove dead birds 

 promptly to avoid exciting the suspicious of those that are unaffected. 

 In deciding the amount of poisoned wheat to put out at one time, 

 it is well to estimate the number of sparrows frequenting a feeding- 

 place and to allow about 20 kernels for each sparrow. Although 2 

 kernels of wheat coated with the solution described below have been 

 known to kill a sparrow, 6 or 7 kernels are required to insure fatal 

 results, and much more than a fatal dose is frequently taken. The 

 sparrows that recover after taking poison or that become frightened 

 by the death of comrades, will forsake a feeding place if poison is 

 kept there constantly. If, therefore, one wishes merely to keep them 

 off his land, he can do so by maintaining a supply of poisoned bait for 

 them. On the other hand, if extermination is the object sought, un- 

 poisoned bait should be put out after each killing until the birds have 

 recovered confidence. There is an advantage in having several feed- 

 ing grounds that may be used in rotation with different kinds of 

 bait. Under these circumstances the sparrows forget their fear of 

 each feeding ground while the others in turn are baited. Only as 

 much poison should be put out as is likely to be eaten in one day, 

 since exposure to moisture reduces its virulence. Any grain coated 



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