164 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



KECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PEOPLE. 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 



The English Sparrow is a curse of such virulence that it ought to be 

 systematically attacked and destroyed before it becomes necessary to 

 deplete the public treasury for the purpose, as has been done in other 

 countries. By concerted action, and by taking advantage of its gre- 

 garious habits, much good may be accomplished with little or no ex- 

 penditure of money. 



If the people can be led to appreciate the undeniable facts with regard 

 to the Sparrow, the danger to be apprehended from its continued in- 

 crease will soon be realized, and a vigorous campaign against the bird 

 will follow. Too much assistance must not be expected from legislative 

 action. Under ordinary circumstances the repeal of all unnecessary 

 restrictions on Sparrow-killing and the legalization of all safe methods 

 of extermination are all that can be demanded, and the rest must be 

 accomplished by the intelligent, persistent, united efforts of the peo- 

 ple. 



USE OF FIRE-ARMS, TRAPS, AND POISON. 



The Sparrow is a cunning, wary bird, and soon learns to avoid the 

 means devised by man for its destruction. Hence much sagacity must 

 be displayed in the warfare against it. In the winter-time, if food is 

 placed in some convenient spot at the same hour each day for a week, 

 the Sparrows will gather in dense flocks to feed, and large numbers 

 may be killed at one time by firing upon them with small shot. By 

 spreading the food along a narrow strip of ground which can be raked 

 conveniently from some hiding-place, the best results may be obtained. 

 When shooting Sparrows \Aihich are collected in flocks, especially in and 

 about grain fields, an ordinary gun, heavily loaded with small shot, 

 should be used, but for regular work on single birds, about houses, and 

 particular^ in cities and towns, a different weapon is desirable. Al 

 most any u collecting gun" of small caliber will be convenient, and very 

 small charges in a 22-caliber shell are perfectly effective at short range. 



Such charges do not frighten the remaining Sparrows badly, and do 

 not alarm other birds. Moreover, the cost of ammunition is compara- 

 tively small. Probably the most effective weapon is what is known as 

 an " auxiliary barrel/' i. e., a small-caliber barrel from six to eight inches 

 long, which can be slipped inside the barrel of an ordinary breech-load- 

 ing shot-gun. Such a barrel using No. 22 shells, which are exploded 

 and ejected precisely like the larger ones, is not only almost as noise- 

 less and economical as the regular collecting guns, but is effective at 

 greater distances and permits greater accuracy of aim. Such a weapon, 

 in proper hands, may be freely used even in the streets and parks of a 

 large city without damage to anything except Sparrows. 



