No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 197 



For the benefit of those who wish to destroy sparrows 

 ahout their own homes some of the latest devices for entrap- 

 ping these birds are given below as published in the bulletins 

 of the Biological Survey. Where sparrows occupy a nesting 

 box put up for other birds, the box may be so arranged that 

 the sparrows may be kept out, trapped or driven out. A box 

 having an entrance not over an inch in diameter will admit 

 house wrens and keep out sparrows ; but if the entrance is 

 large enough for any bird larger than the house wren, the 



FiQ. 5. — Pattern for first funnel of a trap to be 36 by 18 by 12 inches. 

 (After Biological Survey.) 



sparrow can get in. As sparrows begin nesting earlier in the 

 spring than most other birds they may be driven from a 

 nesting box early in the year by removing the nesting 

 material from the box several times a week. For this pur- 

 pose the box must be easily accessible and must have an open- 

 ing by means of which the nest may be taken out with little 

 trouble. Fig. 1 shows how such a box may be attached 

 to the inner wall of a barn or other building, where it may 

 be quickly opened from within the building and the nesting 

 material removed ) or a box, having a projecting cover which 



