HOW TO DESTROY ENGLISH SPARROWS. 
11 
kernel is coated. Sinall-kerneled wlieat sold as poultry food, if 
reasonably clean, is preferable to first quality grain, being cheaper 
and more easily eaten by the sparrows. A 2-(piart glass fruit jar is a 
good vessel to mix in, as it is easily shaken and allows the condition 
of the contents to be seen. If the coated wheat be s])read thinly on a 
hard, flat surface, it will be dry enough for use in a short time. It 
should be dried thoroughly if it is to be ])ut into jars and kejit for 
future use. Dishes employed in pre])aring poison may be safely 
cleansed by washing. 
The poison shoidd be well scattered, so that many birds may be 
able to partake at the same time, since after a few are affected their 
actions excite the suspicion of their comrades. Usually a few 
sjiarrows get only enough strychnine to paralyze them for a few 
hours, after which they recover. It is important, therefore, to 
visit the feeding ])laces two or three hours after distributing poison 
to prevent such birds from escaping. It is well also to remove dead 
birds promptly to avoid exciting the suspicions of those that are 
unaffected. In northern latitudes the best time to put out poison 
is just after a snowstorm, when other food is covered. The feeding 
place should be cleared of snow and the poison laid early in the 
morning. 
Sparrows should be baited in secluded places, safe from inter¬ 
ruptions and where doves and poultry are not endangered. Roofs, 
back yards, and unused poultry runs are favorable situations. 
Proximity to low trees, grape arbors, and similar retreats has the 
advantage that sparrows go to such places between meals, and 
many dead birds will be found there well away from the bait. If 
undisturbed, poisoned birds will usually be found within a few feet 
of where the bait was spread, death occurring in from three to twenty 
minutes. Where doves or poultry are likely to be poisoned, the 
sparrows, after being baited, maybe induced to feed in small covered 
pens made of coarsely meshed wire netting and having the sides 
raised about an inch and a half above the ground. There is prac¬ 
tically no danger that cats or other animals will die from eating 
sparrows that have been poisoned. Any wheat coated by the 
above process, which is overlooked by the birds, will become harmless 
after a few rains. 
Sparrows can be reduced locally to almost any desired extent by 
the methods outlined in this bulletin, but it should not be forgotten 
that such reduction can be made permanent only by systematic and 
continued efforts. 
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