have been known very rarely to nest in a box ■with a round 

 entrance one inch in diameter, and this usually keeps out 

 sparrows, but if the entrance is large enough for any bird 

 larger than the house wren the sparrow may 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 purpose a plethora of boxes must be used and 

 each box must be easily accessible and must have an opening 

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



■Tv^y.^.- 



"■' , , { 



Fig. 1. — Perspective and sectional drawings of an 

 improvised nest box for the interior of build- 

 ings. (After Biological Survey.) 



Fig. 2. — Nest box opening at 

 the top. (After Biological 

 Survey.) 



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 wuthin the building and the nesting material re- 

 moved; or boxes having hinged projecting covers which will 

 shut out rain may be put up on poles or trees. (Fig. 2.) In 

 my own experience success has follow^ed the practice of remov- 

 ing the eggs from the nests at intervals of ten to fourteen days. 

 A stream of water from the garden hose is very effective in 

 evicting sparrows under some circumstances. If used on cold 

 or frosty nights, after the sparrows have retired, it will drive 

 them from their nests or roosting places in bird houses, or on 

 vine-clad walls, where they constitute a nuisance. If one ap- 



