ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 2:; 



lots, poultry yards, nor stables in the block. The average size 

 of each house lot is about four by nine rods. No other traps were 

 in operation in the neighborhood." 



At Waukegan Mr. W. I. Lyon, Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Morris and 

 others have been very successful in trapping sparrows. Mr. 

 Lyon used his modification of the U. S. government trap as 

 described in the Spring, 1921, Bulletin. Mr. Morris uses a 

 similar trap, his catch for the year being about 600. Both Mr. 

 Morris and Mr. Lyon scored their greatest success during the 

 summer months when the fledglings were acquiring experience. 

 Mr. Lyon's record by months is herewith given, with the explan- 

 ation that he w T as away most of the month of August. 



January, ; February, 2 ; March, 2 ; April, 6 ; May, 2 ; June, 

 78; July, 217; August, 131; September, 14; October, 17; Nov- 

 ember, 17; December, 18; total, 504. 



Mrs. Benjamin Bachrach, Jr., reports of the work of the 

 Bird Protection Committee of the Decatur Bird and Tree Club, 

 this committee giving considerable attention to the extermination 

 of the English Sparrow. The funnel-shapped trap recommended 

 by the government has been used. The catch up to October 

 had numbered 459 sparrows as reported by the chairman of the 

 Committee, Mr. C. C. Caldwell. Of her personal experiences 

 Mrs. Bachrach writes : "We have a bird garden and to the best of 

 our ability have identified 75 or more varieties. As usual the 

 bete noire of this garden is the English Sparrow. We have so 

 many lures for our bird friends, our small sanctuary seems to 

 be known to the feathered world as a safe retreat for nesting, 

 for resting, for mating, and naturally the Sparrow, this gamin, 

 this alien, so readily acclimatable, takes advantage of all this, 

 and methods of extermination must naturally be sought, some 

 way to outwit his keen little brain. We found the sparrow trap 

 not so satisfactory. 



"We tried shooting from ambush, but the city ordinances dis- 

 couraged this method. So in the extreme cold weather we sat- 

 urated corn or bread crumbs in a solution of strychnine, then 

 baked it in the oven to kill the odor and make it look normal. 

 We found they would not touch it when it was wet. Then com- 

 menced a vigil, for at no time was that pan permitted to stay 

 outdoors unless it was watched for fear some useful bird might 

 partake. We have killed as many as twenty in a few hours, and 

 never another species of bird would go near the pan. 



"In my talks to school children in large groups at schools 

 or to Boy Scouts I do not hesitate to teach them that the Sparrow 

 is a detriment. We do not consider him a bird but a pest. I tell 

 them how they usurp bird houses sized for other birds, how they 

 cruelly torture the Wren and the Bluebird for no reason. They 

 are cruel and spiteful, unclean, noisy intruders." 



