17 



every bird may be killed at one discharge of the gun. If the 

 sparrows frequent poultry houses where there is danger of 

 shooting fowls the bait may be placed on a long narrow board 

 above the fowls' heads. Persistence in the use of such methods 

 as those detailed above will tend to make any premises so 

 unsafe for sparrows that they will prefer to reside elsewhere. 



Co-operation in Sparrow Killing. 



In many parts of Europe, where a constant warfare is waged 

 against this bird, clubs are formed for the purpose of killing 

 sparrows. In some cases each member of such a club is bound 

 to present to the secretary the heads of a certain number of 

 sparrows each year or to pay a fine. The fines thus collected 

 are used as prizes for the members killing the most sparrows. 

 The honorary secretary of the Stratford-upon-Avon Sparrow 

 Club reported that during the year 1887 over 19,000 birds had 

 been killed. About 20,000 a year is the average number de- 

 stroyed in the neighborhood of Stratford-upon-Avon. 



Similar clubs have been formed in some parts of the United 

 States. In one sparrow hunt in Woodworth, Ohio, 26 men 

 killed 980 sparrows.^ 



Bounties. 



The theory that a bounty should be offered to encourage the 

 extermination of the English sparrow has had many friends, 

 but where this plan has been tried it has not given satisfactory 

 results. 



Dr. Barrows, in his report on the English sparrow, makes an 

 estimate of the cost of exterminating sparrows by bounty in the 

 State of Ohio. The sum required exceeds §11,000,000. IMichi- 

 gan and some other States have tried the plan of exterminating 

 sparrows by bounty, with very unsatisfactory results. Not- 

 withstanding the payment of considerable sums of money, the 

 number of sparrows did not seem to decrease; also, it was found 

 that birds of many species, most of them useful native birds, 

 were killed as sparrows by hunters for the bounty, and in very 

 many cases bounties were paid on their heads. A reward offered 

 for the destruction of English sparrows would be certain to 

 bring about the death of numberless native birds. 



' Barrows, Walter B., Bull. 1, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Division of Economic Ornithology and 

 Mammalogy, The English Sparrow in North America, p. 166. 



