Notes from Field and Study 



217 



phoned to one of the Belmont ornitholo- 

 gists, he would have been requested to 

 spare that particular patch. The evening 

 flight song of the American Woodcock, 

 which has delighted so many bird-lovers, 

 will probably never again be heard in this 

 town. Think, before you cut. — Samuel 

 Dowse Robbins, Belmont, Mass. 



The English Sparrow and Bird-boxes 



A trick of the English Sparrow to drive 

 other birds from a bird-box, which is situ- 

 ated eighteen feet from one of our windows, 

 has been frequently noticed. This box has 

 been in position for five years, and has been 

 occupied once by Bluebirds and once by 

 Wrens. Both of these species every sea- 

 son show a desire to nest in it, but no 

 sooner does their choice become manifest 

 to the English Sparrow than he goes at 

 once into the box and, hanging himself 

 half-way out, he keeps up his ribald 

 demonstrations until the would-be tenants 

 leave the vicinity. The same course of 

 proceedings on his part was observed last 

 March, when a Downy Woodpecker was 

 searching for food there, and possibly may 

 have taken a peep into the box. This 

 hostility on the part of the English Spar- 

 row might be more easily overlooked if 

 he had ever selected this box for a nesting- 

 place. As he has never done so, this dog- 

 in-the-manger attitude shows his evil dis- 

 position. 



Various devices have been tried to keep 

 these Sparrows from the other boxes, but 

 none have been so effective as that of 

 leaving them alone until the incubation 

 of their eggs is under way, then the nest 

 and eggs are cast out and the door of the 

 boxes left open for a few days; after that 

 Bluebirds and Wrens have been allowed 

 to use them. 



To the dog and the cat is often charged 

 the spreading of the infectious germs of 

 swine and poultry diseases. While these 

 animals have one chance to be such bear- 

 ers, the English Sparrow probably is 

 guilty a hundred times, in his role of 

 gleaner in the hog-pen and poultry-yard. 

 One of our neighbors has been quite suc- 



cessful, in winter, in killing these Sparrows 

 that were roosting under a straw-covered 

 shed. This was done by the fumes of 

 burning sulphur, which caused the birds 

 to drop unconscious, and they were drown- 

 ed before they revived. Another person 

 has killed them by catching them in a 

 mouse-trap of the out-of-sight style. 

 Another neighbor had for a year about his 

 yard a Screech Owl that kept the Sparrows 

 away, and made no disturbance aside from 

 flying against windows on moonlight 

 nights. Last winter "a fool with a gun" 

 shot this Owl, and within a month the 

 English Sparrows were flocking back to 

 that place. — Althea R. Sherman, A^a- 

 tional, Iowa. 



Sheltering Wings 



It was a very warm day in May, before 

 the trees had put on leaves enough to 

 produce any shade, and the young Robins 

 in their nest in a woodbine, on my porch 

 were exposed to the direct rays of the sun. 

 The untimely heat became a burden, even 

 to us, and the little birds soon began to 

 suffer, as they showed by panting and open 

 mouths, even drooping their heads over 

 the side of the nest. The parents were 

 evidently distressed by the little ones' 

 condition, and flew about much excited, 

 seemingly not knowing what to do; but 

 it was as evident that they knew the cause 

 of the suffering, and finally they literally 

 threw themselves into the breach. For 

 one of the birds took its place on the edge 

 of the nest and stretched out its wings 

 in such a way as to screen the young ones 

 from the sun. When it became exhausted 

 from holding its wings in this unnatural 

 position, it left, and the other took its 

 place. Thus taking turns, they sheltered 

 the nest for several hours, while we watched 

 this exhibition of parental love and en- 

 durance. — M. L. Davis, Blue Point, L. I. 



[It is not unusual for birds to shelter 

 their young with spread wings from the 

 rain as well as from the sun. See, for 

 example, Mr. Abbott's photograph of a 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler in this position, 

 in the last issue of Bird-Lore. — Ed.] 



