BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



is not an easy undertaking and requires both 

 skill and perseverance. It is not work for chil- 

 dren or the inexperienced, but should be done 

 by those who know the birds, or serious mis- 

 takes may be made. Pulling down their nests 

 is seldom effectual, as they can have another of 

 the rough sort they build ready in a day or so. 

 The winter or very early spring, before the 

 other birds have come back, is the best time to 

 go about it. Poisoned grain is highly recom- 

 mended as a means of exterminating them, but 

 it is a means to which very few would care to 

 resort. It is a dangerous experiment, too, for 

 without the greatest care something might get 

 the grain for which it was not intended. 



Some bird protectors have made the aston- 

 ishing assertion that they have been able to get 

 rid of these sparrow's by giving them grain 

 soaked in strong whisky or brandy. One ob- 

 jection to this was aptly expressed by a nine- 

 year-old boy, who said that it might be all right 

 in town, where there was no place for the Spar- 

 rows to hide, but on the farms they would crawl 

 out of sight round sheds and barns and when 

 they were sober they would come out as good 

 as ever after their spree. It is not a dangerous 

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