242 Wild Bird Guests 



at the next trial. Clear the town thoroughly 

 just once, and thereafter it will be comparatively- 

 easy to keep it cleared. Don't attempt to get 

 rid of sparrows by tearing down the nests — an 

 infant should realize the futility of this method. 

 The birds will have another nest built before 

 you're up next morning, and will play the game 

 with you about once a day during the rest of 

 their long nesting season. Kill the birds and 

 your work is done once and for all. Dead 

 sparrows make no nests. 



The principal methods employed to destroy 

 European sparrows, are trapping, shooting, and 

 poisoning. Of these, trapping is the safest, 

 and poisoning the most effective when large 

 numbers of birds are to be disposed of. In 

 Farmers' Bulletin 4Q^, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, written by Mr. Ned Dear- 

 born, and entitled, "The English Sparrow as a 

 Pest, " there are some excellent suggestions for 

 trapping, and detailed plans for making sparrow 

 traps. And there are some fairly good traps on 

 the market. In most of these traps the birds 

 are caught uninjured and must be disposed of 

 afterwards. This makes it possible to liberate 

 any other birds which may be caught unin- 

 tentionally. Almost any kind of small grain — 

 wheat, oats, cracked corn, or birdseed will do to 



