Show in the West mL Natural History in the Rocky Mountain Plateau r. J. T H Professor of Nature Study in the University of M by il j The English Sparrow and Methods for Its If II The Hair-Streaked Butterflies and How to Observe s quests have been king for a method of English and 1 jr extracts from Farm- J n to De- This j will be sent free to 3 by writing to the U. nent of of was introduced country about sixty from and has ind extended its range it is numerous and Wished in most parts bad writes E of the Biological its good ones its extermination is a reduction ot its feasible and im-The bird has an immunity from because of its its preference for settled owls and Id have kept down its long since been owing to the insatiate tain people for and value of the native re now paying the pen-some the very to be told of getting rid of the have been known to of the ef-have been made private citizens to e a knowledge of bird n appreciation of bird t is only by the latter e can hope to get any-e connot wholly get rid because do enough about We for new discoveries bean be freed from this by a tested with suc 1 J j cess in several of our own we can so greatly reduce their numbers as to overcome most of the objections to City councils and county commissioners should take up the destruction of but individual owners can measurably free their own premises from the pest by the of poisoned A teacher in Jordan has recently succeeded in reducing the sparrows locally on several farms Showing Brilliant Black and Buff and Inconspicuous there by this To the of strychnine is effective and small wheat sold as poultry the best being preferable first quality gram it- is more readily eaten by ounce ot one-eighth sulphate into three- gill of hot water and boil until Moisten teaspoonfuls of starch with a few drops of cold add it to the poison solution and heat till the starch Pour the hot starch solution over one quart of and stir till every kernel is A two-quart glass fruit jar is a good vessel to mix it Spread the coated wheat on a flat surface and dry Put the dried grain away in closed jars and label as Two kernels of this wheat may kill a but six or seven insure fatal Use Good Feed the sparrows in some secure place early every morning for a few days with then spread out the poisoned allowing twenty kernels to the Exposure to moisture lessens the effect of the poison and enables the birds to detect its So put out only enough to be eaten by the sparrows in a It is best to have several feeding supplied alternately with good and then with poisoned and to poison many birds at one since sparrows that take less than a fatal quantity or that become frightened at the death of comrades will forsake a feeding place if poison is kept there Visit the feeding places within a few hours after the bait has been spread in order to remove the dead birds and to destroy those that have only taken enough of the poison to be paralyzed for a few after which they will Dead birds left on the ground excite the suspicion of the The Time and the Winter is the best season for doing this work on a large and the early just after a heavy is the most favor able moment to put out the poison The feeding place should be cleared of snow an open shed is still better and the grain spread on the dry back yards and Unused poultry runs are favorable Proximity to low trees and shrubs has the advantage that sparrows go to such places between and many dead birds will be found there well away from the If poisoned birds will usually be found within a few feet of where the bait was death occurring in from three to doves or poultry are likely to be the after being may be 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 There is practically no danger that cats or animals will die from eating sparrows that have been Any wheat coated by the above which is overlooked by the will become harmless after a few y Use of Bird By putting up bird boxes with hinged the sparrows that nest in them can be captured afterwards by hand or a long-handled having a deep bag and a small hoop made to fit the front of the After the net has been quietly placed over the a few raps on the box will send the tenant into By distributing bird boxes about orchards and buildings and catching the sparrows or destroying their the work of extermination can go on all Prevention of The most effective method of preventing the increase of sparrows in a locality is to destroy their nests at intervals of ten or twelve days throughout the breeding Occasionally they build large covered nests in but as a rule they build open nests in bird electric light waterspouts and similar it is often difficult to reach nests with the they can usually be torn down by means of a long pole having an iron hook at the By a concerted and continued movement to destroy every nest after the eggs are English sparrows in any locality be gradually reduced without resorting to shot or Food of the natural diet consists of but it eats a great variety of other much of its annual fare consists of waste material from the in au- and winter it consumes Sv quantities of weed and in summer numerous The destruction of weed seed is un-i deniably in the sparrow's m Its record as to insects is not so F There substantial evi- dence that it eats certain harmful t insects quite freely when these are but that it habit seeks or that it pros' fers them to seeds or other vege-i table is not borne out by the Out of English sparrow stomachs examined by the Biological 47 contained noxious 50 contained beneficial and 31 contained insects of little or no economic This' report shows conclusively aside from the destruction of weed u. there is very little to be said in the sparrow's the other much can be said against the It destroys small as and It also destroys buds and flowers of cultivated shrubs and In the garden it eats seeds they and nips off tender young vegetables as they appear above peas and lettuce especially subject to It damages wheat and other grains when newly and in Wars Against Useful its economic relations the English sparrow among birds is comparable to the rat among It is and reduces the numbers of some of our most useful native such as house purple tree cliff and barn by destroying the eggs and young and by usurping the nesting It attacks other familiar native as the red-eyed and mocking causing them to desert parks and shady streets of Unlike our native birds whose places it it has no but is noisy and It defiles buildings and ornamental shrubs and vines with its excrement and with its bulky One morning last week at the State Normal where a pair of bluebirds' had nested a box which the children had provided for I watched the bluebirds fight off the sparrows for when the latter tried to take possession of the box with the young bluebirds still in As there were 40 or 50 sparrows to the two and all the sparrows aided in annoying the contest was so one-sided that the final outcome will probably be the flight of the useful bluebirds to places more remote from their worthless sparrow enemies-Flipper and Here was one situation in which a boy with a flipper would have been that he had already from instruction and to respect and defend the gentle and serviceable He could have driven away the marauding sparrows with a few well-timed and so have aided our the in their unequal contest against the street ruffian So a man with a shotgun might be of some use where sparrows' infest poultry By placing bait on a horizontal board far above the a long row of sparrows could be destroyed by a charge of 10 But the shotgun worst of the have been used persistently and successfully in the wanton and criminal destruction of the native therefore it may be too much to hope that those who violate the law by permitting their boys to have these weapons in their will of these illegal make a sane use acts in the manner suggested The following description of the sparrow's nest-building is one of the simplest and and jis somewhat easier to understand a good prose i The Sparrow's only look what I have found A sparrow's nest- upon the A sparrow's as you may Blown out of yonder old elm And what a medley thing it I never saw a nest like this Not neatly tender Of silvery mossi and shining hair But put odds and Picked up from and bits of and bits of Just like a little rubbish Here is a scrap of red and Like the old washerwoman's gown And here is pink and And bits of calico hair of dog and fur of And of a worsted And shreds of and many a Compacted cunningly here has hoarding and And not a little good Before a home of peace and ease Was fashioned out of things like Mary Drives Away Our S. H. Goodwin stated before the classes in nature study at the university that be bas seen this sparrow and its comrades gather in a mountain where a number of the beautiful and well-behaved wax-wings were though the sparrows would not attack the larger they would annoy by coming as close as they dared and in the rasping note so fling all of billingsgate at the all the time out their necks' and heads towards their very attitude an This would be followed by moving hopping around the larger or upon the very J by one or more of the limbs to spring down compel the waxwings iS would keep this up sensible person do M annoyed by a company 3 the waxwings and the gM would proceed to each other upon their J for that appeared to their increased jabbering j He reports having pursue similar tactics with jM with and the when the larger would set out for a pack of these vandals iM accompany him some mo doubt to give their pleasure in this Often these sparrows X the nests of and A larger and break them or roll them out of the they take and piling rubbish on as custom when building them This ornithologist says saw a half-dozen of these tM destroy the nests of a eaves swallows and There were nests under the eaves o at and the to take where any were to and make The of could do nothing but fly and squeak pitifully in Enough of the sparrow Let us turn to a matter and of the frail children of Why Learn to The more obscure those of smaller size and showy become when closely ob If school after A ing one of should try cide which species they the exercise would of interest and of the as' a sharpener of power to H classify the faculty of J the very essence To just m is called is of no but the necessary to decide is such an exer-mind as results in the classify by scientific i is this ability that all to and ray as the power eloped more and with more inter-any other kind of pro-ie effect on mental the ability to classify a wings will limed at in suggesting that they encourage 0 compare the 1 to determine which f have Hair of small butterflies feet adapted to walk-i up of three groups coppers and the streaks are usually with delicate striped 1 the lower surface of suggesting the name Some re daintily marked b blue and The are usually provided with very fragile tail-like The fore wings of the male often bear a oval spot filled with scales that emit a probably to attract the The genus is called The Western We have the common hair streak which has a slaty upper adorned by a large spot crowned with crimson between the two tails of the hind The royal hair streak is royal purple above and has orange spots at the inner angles of both hind which are On the underside the orange spots reappear as red eye-spots purpled with black and margined with metallic This fine species expands and is called Thecla The bronzed hair streak is uniformly brown Nelson's hair streak is bright above and pale red Behr's hair streak is in two shades of brown and with spots The green winged hair streak is dark brown above and bright green The white spotted hair streak is dark brown above and green with a band of white spots The coral hair streak is gray-brown the hind wings with a row of coral red spots The thicket hair streak is dark blackish on the upper and both wings are shot with bluish the wings are pale reddish brown below with conspicuous lines and Sparrows of the and the of Sparrow will be presented |