Notes from Field and Study 



269 



"Nature," however, as will be seen 

 from an examination of the specimen, 

 made a very poor job of it. The growth 

 of new bone is indeed remarkable, but, far 

 from joining the ends of the fractured bone, 

 it has forced them apart, rendering the 

 wing useless, so far as flight is concerned. 



The bone appears to be large for a 

 Merganser, but without commenting on 

 its size or the pathologic aspects of the 

 case, I present it as an authentic instance 

 in which a bird with a broken wing was 

 evidently unable to set it. The usual fate 

 of the crippled birds, referred to above, 



their efforts to attract the birds around 

 their homes. In the work in nature-study 

 in the public schools of this city, the chil- 

 dren have been encouraged to feed the birds 

 in winter, and to provide nesting-boxes in 

 the spring. But the almost universal 

 report comes from the children that what- 

 ever they try to do for the birds proves of 

 little avail on account of the interference 

 of the English Sparrows. If food is put out, 

 the Sparrows devour it and drive away 

 the other birds; when nesting boxes are 

 put up, the Sparrows occupy them at once.' 

 or, after other birds have begun to build 



YOUNG HOUSE WREN JUST LEAVING A NEST WHICH HAS NOT 

 BEEN MOLESTED BY THE ENGLISH SPARROW 



eads to the conclusion that this is only 

 one of many similar cases, and raises the 

 inquiry if, as has been recently asserted, 

 birds can and do set their leg-bones when 

 broken, why do they not also employ their 

 alleged surgical abilities in the repair of a 

 far more important part of their anatomy ? 

 — Frank M. Chapman, Englewood, N. J. 



The Fallacy of the Moving Bird-house 



The English Sparrow has proven itself, 

 in this locality, a quarrelsome, trouble- 

 making nuisance, driving away our native 

 birds and discouraging the children in 

 I 



quarrel with the first inmates till they are 

 driven away, so that the children are dis- 

 couraged from making further efforts. 



As this activity of the children in doing 

 something for the birds is an important 

 factor in the child's development, the 

 author has sought for several years for 

 some clue as to how the discouraging inter- 

 ference of the Sparrows might be avoided. 

 Various devices in the method of con- 

 structing the bird- houses have been tried, 

 but with no avail. Last year the author 

 saw a suggestion which he hoped might 

 prove successful, namely, that if the house 

 were suspended the Sparrows would not 



