The Swallow and the Sparrow 



dilapidated state of those which I find seems 

 to testify to their dangerous nature. If 

 the inclemency of the climate makes it im- 

 possible for the Pelopaeus to practise the in- 

 dustry of her forebears successfully, does 

 not this prove that the insect is a stranger, 

 a colonist from a hotter and drier climate, 

 where there is no persistent rain and above 

 all no snow to be dreaded? 



I have no difficulty in picturing the Pe- 

 lopaeus as of African origin. Far back in 

 the past she came to us, by gradual stages, 

 through Spain and Italy; and the olive-dis- 

 trict is almost the limit of her extension 

 towards the north. She is an African, who 

 has become a Provencal by naturalization. 

 In Africa, in fact, she is said often to nest 

 under the stones, which would not, I think, 

 make her despise human habitations, if she 

 found peace and quiet there. We hear of 

 her kinswomen in the Malay Archipelago 

 frequenting houses. They have the same 

 habits as the guest of our homes; they share 

 her singular liking for that unstable fabric, 

 a muslin curtain. From one end of the 

 world to the other, the same taste for Spi- 

 ders, for mud cells, for sheltering under 

 man's roof. If I were in the Malay Ar- 

 chipelago, I should turn over the stone- 

 i53 



