For the past few days I have been watching a pair of beautiful Tree Swallows perching in a tree near one of our bluebird boxes near our driveway. This may be the same pair that nested there last year. I wondered why they weren't going into the box. Later I saw a pair of House Sparrows going in and out of the box. I tried discouraging the House Sparrows because they are very agressive and will take over the boxes from the Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and other cavity nesting birds. This was the pair of swallows this morning. This evening I checked the nestbox to see if the House Sparrows had tried rebuilding in the box. This is what I found. The House Sparrows had trapped one of the Tree Swallows in the nest box and pecked its eyes out. The bird was near death when I found it. This is what the culprit looks like. This is a male House Sparrow. The female is just a plain brown with no black or gray. If you have nest boxes on your property, you should do everything you can to get rid of the House Sparrows (also known as English Sparrows). These sparrows are not protected by law because they are not a native bird of the U.S. They were brought here in the 1840's. They will kill Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds and their young and other cavity nesters. This is the third time in 3 years that I have lost Tree Swallows to House Sparrows on different areas of our Bluebird Trail. Roger Mayhorn Compton Mt