28 
and in order that every person might be convinced, instructions 
had been issued by the Government of Tasmania to tho 
Salmon Commissioners to at once put the nets down so that a few 
lish may be caught, and the first that were caught were to be sent to 
their Excellencies the Governors of Victoria, New South Wales, and 
Tasmania. This, ho felt sure, would be a source of pleasure to all 
those who took an interest in the proceedings of the Society ; but to 
his colleagues on the Council, many of whom had, like himself, 
watched these experiments with intense interest for many years, 
the gratification afforded by such a proof of success was great 
indeed. lie felt it a duty he owed to the late highly esteemed pre¬ 
sident of the Society, Mr. Edward Wilson, for him not to sit down 
without once more reminding the members of tho Society how greatly 
they were indebted to that gentleman, whose interest in the cause of 
acclimatisation continued unabated, and whose health he (the Chair¬ 
man) was pleased to say was greatly improved. He might also again 
mention that it was to Mr. Edward Wilson the Society owed the 
trout, which was succeeding so well in Tasmania, and to which the 
Council looked to enable them to stock the reservoirs of this colony, 
permission having been given by the Government exclusively to this 
Society to undertake this important work. 
Mr. Levey observed that statements had been made in the news¬ 
papers of the injury done to the fruit trees by the sparrows, and 
wished to ask Professor M‘Coy whether there was any difference 
between the habits of tho Chinese and English sparrow. 
Professor M‘Coy stated that the Society had introduced two 
species of sparrows—the house sparrow and what Mr. Levey had 
referred to as tho Chinese sparrow. This latter is tho sparrow which 
was termed in systematic books the tree sparrow. It was equally 
English vptli the house sparrow, and was as abundant there, distin¬ 
guished by the brown colour of the head. It was, however, moro 
widely distributed geographically, and it was more its habit to live in 
hedge-rows and trees than in the vicinity of houses. lie had no 
hesitation in saying that the injury done to fruit by them was abso¬ 
lutely insignificent compared with the benefit they did by feeding the 
enormous numbers of their young almost exclusively upon grubs 
and that the produce they thus saved in the vineyard aud the garden 
was infinitely more important than any other material which they 
used for food for themselves. The good they thus do is done all 
through the year, and cannot be done so well by any other means. 
Even tho little injury doue to ripe fruit, if proved against them, is 
