178 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



No. 22 (3 birds).— Fed on wheat and London purple (15 to 1) stirred up with a 

 little gum-arabic water and then dried. Commenced eating at 9.45 a. m. First one 

 dead at 3.30 p. m. ; stomach and crop empty. Second and third badly affected at 

 3.30 p. in. ; dead nest morning ; stomach and crop empty. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ARSENITE OF COPPER (PARIS GREEN). 



No. 23 (3 birds).— Three hungry birds exposed to ground hemp-seed 'and Paris 

 green for four hours, and refused to eat it on account of its bright color. 



No. 24 (3 birds).— Fed on wheat and Paris green (15 to 1) stirred up with a little 

 gum-arabic water and then dried. Commenced to eat at 9.45 a. m. First bird dead 

 at 3.30 p. m. ; stomach and crop empty. Second and third birds badly affected at 

 3.30 p. m. ; dead next morning ; stomachs and crops empty. 



SECTION FIFTH. 

 THE TEAPPIM OF SPAEEOWS POE SPORTING PURPOSES. 



By W. T. Hill. 

 HISTORY AND DETAILS OF THE BUSINESS. 



Previous to April of this year (18S7), I did not make an exclusive 

 business of furnishing Sparrows for trap purposes, and kept no detailed 

 account of the business done. Therefore it will be impossible to give 

 other than approximate numbers taken and shipped, but for present 

 purposes this will not matter. The number taken daily or monthly de- 

 pends upon the season ; the average number per day for one man would 

 be about 100, the largest number taken in one day being 366. 



I have sent Sparrows to a number of places in Iudiaua, Ohio, and 

 Illinois. The farthest I have sent them north was to Hudson, Wis,* 

 west, to Kearney, Nebr. ; east, to Orange Valley, N". J. ; and south, to 

 Saint Louis, Mo. I have also sent them to several poiuts in Iowa, the 

 largest shipment made (1,500) being to Burlington, and.I have sent them 

 into the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, 

 and Michigan, but to no point so far as I know where Sparrows were 

 not already established. 



My first shipment of Sparrows for sporting purposes consisted of two 

 lots of two hundred each to Springfield, Ohio, and two lots, one of one 

 hundred and fifty and one of six hundred and fifty, to Saint Louis, Mo., 

 in the fall of 1885, which is less than two years ago, and Sparrows were 

 very plentiful at both places then. 



The first Sparrows in Indianapolis were two pairs sent to a gentleman 

 by Hichie Brothers, of New York, as a curiosity, which accidentally 

 escaped from the cage. About the same time (1872) several hundred 

 were procured and released by private individuals. Soon after this, 

 when they had become somewhat numerous, it is reported that train 

 men would close the doors of empty grain cars, into which the Sparrows 

 bad entered, carry them to a distance on the road, and then release them. 



