THE OOLOGIST. 



107 



bird was doing a good service in the 

 eating of weed seed. These few, how- 

 ever, admitted that the English Spar- 

 row did attack and harass other birds. 

 The rest of the letters were against 

 the sparrow. Many give personal ex- 

 periences of the sparrows' pugnacity 

 and plead for a sure and certain meth- 

 od to get rid of the species. Others 

 are up and doing and are killing off 

 thousands each year, by poison and 

 the gun. I will quote here three ex- 

 tracts: 



"I have frequently observed that the 

 English Sparrow chased the Robins off 

 the State College Campus (Harris- 

 burgh,) and last year at my residence 

 on the Penn. State College, I saw a 

 male sparrow kill and drop from the 

 nest four young Pewees, about a week 

 or two old. The parents which are 

 recognized as being among the most 

 insectivorous birds, were entirely help- 

 less in the presence of the intruder 

 and destroyer of their young." — H. H. 

 Surface, Pa. 



"Have seen them rob Bluebirds' 

 nests, drive away Robins, Wrens, and 

 Crested Flycatchers." — H. Link, In- 

 diana. 



"The Purple Martins lond disputed 

 the possession of their boxes with the 

 sparrows but eventually were compel- 

 led to give them at least half the com- 

 partments in each box. The Swallows 

 and Bluebirds were driven out nearly 

 altogether for many years, but of re- 

 cent years have made increased use 

 of the boxes. The Purple Martins are 

 practically gone, and I doubt if the 

 Bluebirds or Swallows would be allow- 

 ed to nest, if the sparrows occupying 

 the boxes were not turned out and 

 their nests destroyed, as I have been 

 in the habit of doing." — James H. 

 Fleming, Toronto, Canada. 



5. Would public opinion in your lo- 

 cality favor the adoption of effective 

 measures to exterminate the species? 



Public opinion, in may localities, 



would favor extermination, but in 

 many places, so-called humanitarians 

 were, and are, still bitterly oppored to 

 sparrow destruction, as in Boston in 

 1889. But the greater portion cf the 

 letters report communities to be en- 

 tirely indifferent and difficult to arouse 

 to any definite action. As is always 

 the case, a pest must become over- 

 whelming, before the genral public 

 will pay the slightest heed. 



6. State facts and argument:, pro 

 and con, which decide this problem 

 in your mind. 



Two letters used the argument that 

 it was cruel to kill any living thing, 

 no matter how good the reason, bas- 

 ing it on the point that the other ani- 

 mals had as much right to live as we 

 had. It was also wrong to teach boys 

 to kill things as it made them cruel. 

 The great majority of writers were 

 thinking of the great danger to our 

 native birds, and this was a sufficient 

 cause to demand extermination. 



In Canada the consensus of opinio::' 

 is the same as in the Unitel States. 

 But there the winters are more saverc- 

 and so the bird does not attain to s~ 

 great numbers but shows there, as 

 here, the same fighting qualities thar 

 have made him most inimical to our 

 native species. 



There are several methods of ex- 

 termination feasible; destroying nest"; 

 and young, shooting, and by poisor.- 

 ing. The poisoned grain is prepare;! 

 by dissolving V s ounce of strychnin 

 sulphate in one half pint of boilinr; 

 water. Pour this while hot over two; 

 quarts of cracked corn or wheat, stir 

 ring well until all the liquid is absorb- 

 ed. Dry thoroughly, without scorch- 

 ing, and put away labelled. One ke:- 

 nell of this prepared grain will kill r 

 sparrow. Great care must be usefJ 

 with this, and it should be used on! 

 when our other granivorous birds arc 

 away. 



