312 



THE OOLOGIST 



ures only .64 x .56 as against .94 x .73, 

 .93 x .73 and .92 x 71 tor the normal 

 eggs. The Cowbird is an average spe- 

 cimen .85x.66. The runt, as is usual 

 in such cases, proved infertile as well 

 as one of the normal eggs. The bal- 

 ance of the set showed about four 

 days incubation. 



F. M. Phelps. 

 Elyria, O. 



A Battle With the English Sparrow. 



Hoping to secure a family of Blue 

 Birds as renters I erected a neat lit- 

 tle bird house on my lawn, this spring. 

 No sooner was it in place than a pair 

 of English sparrows proceeded to take 

 possession. To this I objected and 

 made my objections known by hurling 

 clods and stones at them when ever 

 they came near. It was interesting 

 and amusing however, to observe the 

 means they took to accomplish their 

 purpose. Whenever a person appeared 

 outside the house there was not a 

 sparrow to be seen, within a half a 

 block and they acted as though they 

 did not know that there was a bird 

 house within miles. But safely hidden 

 by the window curtains indoors, and 

 peeping out through the windows I 

 could see what took place. The spar- 

 rows would fly unconsciously to some 

 bushes close by and half conceal them- 

 selves there, while they took note of 

 whether any one was in sight and if 

 the coast was clear a quick flutter of 

 wings and one would be in the house. 

 After I had observed this to my satis- 

 faction I tore out the nest and closed 

 up the doors of the house, as a remind- 

 er that such tenants were not desired. 



But my battle was not over yet. The 

 house was one with a peaked roof and 

 opened gables, the pair proceeded to 

 take possession of the attic. By this 

 time I had murder in my heart so I 

 secured an air rifle and proceeded to 



pump lead at them. But alas for my 

 marksmanship! there were no casuali- 

 ties but after several days of this sport 

 not a sparrow was in sight and I was 

 beginning to hope that my hints had 

 been taken. Being called away from 

 home for several days, when I return- 

 ed I found, however, a nest safely con- 

 structed in the attic of the bird house. 

 In disgust I tore out the nest and be- 

 gan to plan for some other campaign 

 of battle. It was at this point that 

 reinforcements came to my rescue. 

 The reinforcement was in the form of 

 a Kingbird (tyrannus tryannus). I 

 first saw him resting on a wire a few 

 feet from the house observing it criti- 

 cally. He next proceeded to chastise 

 every sparrow that came anywhere 

 near the house, but did not offer to 

 take possession himself. He kept 

 guard over the house for several days, 

 but has not been seen within a half a 

 block of it since. I do not know what 

 was his reason for taking part in the 

 battle, whether it was to help me out 

 of my dilemna or just to show his 

 kingly authority, which ever it may 

 be I am thankful for his assistance. 

 But in the meantime my house stands 

 tenantless. 



Eugene C. Ford. 

 Armour, S. D. 



Owing to the large amount of feed 

 lying about our place, and the abund- 

 ance of water for the comfort of our 

 wild fowl, it seems that nearly all the 

 English sparrows in central Illinois 

 desire to make their headquarters 

 here. The result is that we have kill- 

 ed an average of a thousand sparrows 

 a year on our home grounds during 

 the past ten years. At times we can 

 see appreciable diminution of the sup- 

 ply owing to the vigor with which we 

 prosecute our warfare. At other times 

 we almost give up in despair. If every- 



