412 USEFUL BIRDS. 
4. Surround the field with a line of twine, strung on 
upright poles, and suspend rags, streamers, pieces of bright 
tin, etc., from the twine. 
5. A frequent change in scarecrows is advisable. A 
barrel hung on a leaning pole puzzles the Crow. 
To drive Blackbirds from a cornfield in autumn, a charge 
of fine shot fired from a long distance, so as to rattle among 
them, will be effectual without injuring them. 
To protect grain from the House (or “ English”) Sparrow 
a liberal use of the shotgun is usually successful. Poisoned 
wheat has been used in extreme cases. 
To protect Small Fruits. 
It is not usually good biology to shoot birds for eating 
fruit. It is better to provide fruit enough for both birds 
and man, especially wild fruit, which birds prefer. The fol- 
lowing protective measures are recommended : — 
1. To protect strawberries and cherries (May and June), 
plant Russian mulberry and June berry or shadberry, or plant 
several trees of the soft early cherries, to furnish food for 
the birds. The Governor Wood is a type of the kind they 
prefer. (G. T. Powell.) 
2. To protect raspberries and blackberries (July and 
August), plant mulberry, buckthorn, elder, and chokeberry. 
(Florence Merriam [Bailey].) Also, plant some early sweet 
berries, and let the fruit remain until dead ripe, to attract 
the birds from the others. Strawberries may be thus pro- 
tected. (Prof. H. A. Surface.) The larger fruits, such as 
apples, pears, and peaches, are not much injured by birds in 
Massachusetts. 
3. Where it is found impossible to protect small early 
cherry trees in any other way, it will pay to cover them 
with fine fish net while the fruit is ripening. 
4. If Kingbirds nest near cherry trees, they will keep 
other birds away. Bees, particularly drones, attract King- 
birds. 
To protect Poultry from Hawks and Crows. 
1. Rear the young chicks or ducklings on grassland, in 
portable brooders or coops to which movable runs are 
attached. Poultry reared in this way is much finer for the 
