Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-09-13
TOGET RID OFSPARROWS

n "Hiler IN the American CultlvatOr
says
Every man should be enough of
naturalist to know what forces of nature
are working for and what against him.
Take, for instance, bird habits. The
farmer who raises grain or fruit should
know what birds are his friends and
what his foes. 1t will not do to depend
upon the sayings of father or grand
father that such and such bird is bad
and must be shot. While this bird, it
is true, may do some harm, he may ac-
complish five good deeds for every mis-
demeanor, and the balance on the whole
may be much in his favor. Our most
eminent practical ornithologists- are
authority for the statement that if it
were not for the birds-if all the birds
of the world should be eliminated-it
would be impossible for man to grow
crops or live. This is rather startling,
to be sure, but when it is considered
that there are thousands of birds which
feed upon every farm and millions of
them In every county in the land, and
that during the year each of these birds
eats thousands and hundreds of thous-
ands predaceous insects and weed seeds,
1T does not seem so unreasonable.
But, speaking of the bad birds, my
attention was called recently to an arti-
Gle in the Agricultural Gazette, of New
South Wales, stating that the English
sparrow is gradually overrunning the
country, characterizing it as 'sundesira-
BILE" but remarking that it is impossi-
bic to exterminate it. This last state
mentis undoubtedly true, SO far as the
country at large is concerned. Fortunes
have been appropriated by various
states In this country for the purpose,
but the sparrow is still with them.
However, / had but little trouble in
driving every sparrow from my place
In Virginia, and / believe there is no
reason why it cannot be done on any
farm. The very sagacity of this bird
make it possible. And certainly it is
worth while trying for, since the spar
row not only feeds principally on grain
and eats few insects, but he drives
away lnSect-teedlng birds.
Doing away with the sparrows, -
according to the Agricultural Gazette.
has In some instances in England re-
suited in decrease in insect pests
because the native insect-eating birds
have been enabled to feed in peace and
have largely returned to their old haunts
around farms, orchards and gardens as
a feeding ground, which they were moi
able to do when the sparrows had pos.
session. This is a matter Of common
observation in the United States. The
English sparrow is an eternal scrapper
Now, as to the way to get rid of them
on the farm. In the town or the city
it is impracticable, but on the farm
all that is required is gun and a little
persistence. My own punitive method:
consisted in using up 40 or so BIB cap.
through small 22.caliber rife. Their,
were SIX or seven pairs of sparrows or
the place. After three or four got theil
leaden doses the others became exceed
lngly wary The warfare was con
tinued, however, without missing 9
day, including some very long chance
shots, made from the interior of the
rooms. think it was not more thar
two weeks after the opening of the
campaign that the last sparrow winged
an indignant flight to some more peace
ful locality, and beyond stray visit
once in a while the place harbored
no more sparrows for three years. The
killing commenced in the early breed
ing season-spring-and the birds soor
made up their minds that things were
entirely too strenuous for the success
full rearing of the usual four or five
broods- The place has always been
full of birds, and cannot say for sure
that the other birds increased after the
exit of the sparrow. Certainly there
was less bird fighting about the house,
and wrens and bluebirds built regularly
under the piazza roof. Two-thirds of
the sparrows were scared away, not
killed. What determined me to hostil-
ity was when pair of them tore a
Dluebird's nest to pieces and proceeded
to appropriate the location on the
piazza.
The foregoing experience of the
writer in the Cultivator was almost
Identical with that of the CITIZEN
editor. The English sparrows had
taken possession of his lawn and the
chicken yard was alive with them-pos-
sibly as many as thousand frequent
ing the premises. Two cat-rifies, one
in the hands of little girl and one
under a typos manipulation, with
mustard-seed shot (BB caps) early in
the spring brought a hundred or SO to
earth. 1t was not long before the
neighbors had corner on the sparrow
market, and to this writing, six
months after, of the hundreds that
were scared away not one has been
seen on the premises. In their place
have come score of mockings and. nu-
merous other birds that years ago had
fed before the march of the English
sparrow. The atmosphere is fraught
with melody and caterpillars and bugs
are not now near so plentiful.