342 



The House-Sparrow. 



premises whilst catching sparrows or rats, or loading shot- 

 guns with ordinary paper instead of stout wads, shall be dis- 

 qualified for all prizes. 



Rule 7. The balance at the end of the season shall be 

 divided among the working members according to the total 

 number of points obtained during the year. 



Rule 8. Collectors shall be appointed in various parts of the 

 district to receive and destroy heads of birds, and tails of rats, 

 once a week, at a time fixed to meet the convenience of the 

 working members. 



Rule 9. An annual meeting shall be held at in 



May or June, at which the accounts shall be audited, the funds 

 divided in accordance with Rule 7, officers appointed for the 

 succeeding season, and the transaction of any other business 

 connected with the club. 



A club in Kent, worked along the lines indicated above, with 

 less than twenty working members, destroyed during the last 

 three seasons over 28,000 sparrows and more than 16,000 rats in 

 a comparatively small area with obviously useful effect. The 

 annual prize-money amounted to a little over £6 per annum. 



If such clubs could be instituted and their work carried out 

 systematically for three or four seasons throughout the country, 

 there would be a manifest improvement in increased crops on 

 farms and gardens and a better chance for the multiplication 

 of martins and o^her insect-feeding species of birds. 



John Percival. 



