xxiv
Journal of Proceedings.
Mr. Andrew Johnston said he did not think they had a martin's nest
left in the country side, except a few which were inhabited by sparrows,
and this was occasioned, he supposed, by the thickness of the population
encouraging the sparrows. He wished to ask Col. Russell two questions.
One was whether, if they could destroy the sparrows sufficiently, the
martins would corne back, after having lost the habit of being there ?
And he was told that martins' nests were inhabited by bugs. Had Col.
Russell's 130 martins' nests produced a corresponding appearance of that
objectionable insect inside his house ?
Col. Russell had no doubt the martins would come back, and that in
ten years' time the place would be full of them. He knew that martins
were commonly said to bring bugs, but he did not believe it. He had
never traced any connection between the bed-bug and the martin ; in fact,
he thought that the bird's nest-parasite was a different species.
Mr. W. Cole said that the parasite of the martins' nests was a true
Cimex, but was not the same species as the bed-bug (C. lectularius L.).
It had been described by Jenyns as Cimex hirundinis, and is somewhat
smaller, narrower, and more hairy than the common species. He
believed it had never been found within houses. The bugs infesting bats
and pigeons were likewise considered to be distinct forms by some ento-
mologists, and had been described under the names of Cimex pipistrelli
and C. columbarius.*
Mr. Letchford said that though Col. Russell had brought a long list of
charges against the sparrows, he did not think it any too long. Accounts
from South Australia showed that the importation of sparrows by that
colony had been very disastrous; they had taken the whole crop of
grapes. They had not heard Col. Russell charge the sparrows with
taking our fruit, but he believed it was one of the indictments which
might be brought against them.
Col. Russell said that Mr. Letchford was perfectly right. In America,
Australia, and New Zealand sparrows had been introduced, and the
people did not like them at all. But he had heard of other birds—green-
finches in New Zealand, for instance—that when sent abroad they not
only practised all the wickednesses they committed here, but developed
fresh ones. Sparrows seldom destroy fruit in this country ; he had never
seen them do so himself, but he had heard from others that they some-
times attack cherries and green currants, pulling off and dropping a good
many. Most of the sparrows in this country would be got rid of if all
could be induced to crush their oats, for the number of any birds
depended on the amount of food at the worst time, such as the middle of
winter.
Mr. Rees said it was quite true that the sparrows had done a great
deal of harm in Australia ; he had received a letter a short time ago from
* Specimens of C. lectularius and C. hirundinis were exhibited, as well as the curious
dipteron, Stenopteryx hirundinis of Leach, which also infests the martin.—Ed.