298 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 16, 1859. 
DEATH TO THE TRESPASSER. 
I will narrate a circumstance talcing place in the neighbour¬ 
hood of my own residence, that, unseen, I myself could barely 
have accredited, in which the sagacity displayed w r as most cer¬ 
tainly of very unusual character, and which far exceeded any¬ 
thing to my knowledge detailed by previous writers. 
Under the gable of a far-projecting roof the common House 
Marten had annually produced one or more broods of young 
ones for many years past. The present spring seems to have 
retarded their accustomed arrangements, however ; and, prior to 
the arrival of the Martens, a pair of Sparrows had relined with 
feathers, and similar soft materials, the time-used occupancy of 
the Martens, and, in satisfaction for the labour thus applied, had 
evidently claimed it as their own. 
Possession thus obtained, the Sparrows soon made themselves 
unusually comfortable, and enjoyed the prior exertions of the 
as-yet-absent owners ; but when incubation was proceeding, the 
summer visitants came suddenly to re-adjust and repair (as cus¬ 
tomary every spring) their former ienancy. Their dismay seemed 
heartbreaking. For a day or so the pair of old Martens sat for¬ 
lornly reviewing their evictinent, and from the roof occasionally 
made unsuccessful sallies from the roof to dispossess the present 
occupants. These were manifestly worse than futile, for the ; 
Sparrow seemed always on the alert, and to obtain an entrance 
to the nest was impracticable; for, at many of the skirmishes, 
the Martens seemed almost denuded of their neck and breast- 
feathers, and were reluctantly compelled to beat a retreat to 
escape further personal ill-treatment, whilst the male Sparrow 
contented himself by sitting on a distant chimney-pot, threaten¬ 
ing and noisily complaining of the attacks on his better-half, but, 
singularly enough, never personally venturing actual collision. 
Thus matters stood for some forty-eight hours, when the dis¬ 
possessed ones voluntarily absented themselves altogether, and I 
considered the Sparrows had actually realised the advantages of 
the legal‘‘nine points,” so customarily admitted as consequent , 
on possession. I was, however, judging wrongly. Early one 
morning, when the Sparrow was near hatching, came a whole 
cohort of Martens, more in number than collectively I ever 
previously witnessed; and these flights, after a most cautious 
survey of how matters stood, covered the whole ridge-tile as 
closely as it was possible for the birds to sit together. My 
curiosity was enlisted simply from the conjecture of “how” so 
numerous a body could have been so rapidly collected, and 
anxiously I waited the issue. The twitterings were incessant, 
yet for half an hour or more I firmly believe not one bird moved 
its position. 
Among this conclave none seemed more petulant and exhortive | 
than one of the original Martens, whose sudden dispossession I 
have detailed. Its identity was indisputable, from the fact of 
two or three flight-feathers having been forcibly abstracted in } 
previous encounters with the Sparrows. After working up their 
fury to the utmost, the Martens simultaneously flew to a wet 
roadway in the neighbourhood; each bird taking up a mouthful 
of mud, and then flying as rapidly as wings could do back to the 
nest—thus affixing its atom on the only means of entrance. At 
first the hen sparrow seemed fully aware of their intentions, and 
fought with an obstinacy a struggle for personal existence could 
alone inspire. Whenever the opening was partially filled up, she 
demolished wholesale the fresh erection. Constant exertion, 
however, against combined hundreds, without even a moment’s 
cessation, evidently began to tell on even her vigorous frame: 
her efforts became weaker and weaker, and finally she was a victim 
to premature interment. As the scene closed on her, so much 
more was the energy of the Martens increased; the frantic 
twitterings of those leaving the nest, after the safe deposition of 
their loads, to those “still coming" were excessive. Yet, very : 
strange to say, directly their intention was accomplished by the 
Sparrow’s being “built in,” they all took again a position on the 
ridge-tile—most of them, however, now evidently lapsing into a 
state of semi-somnolency. 
The night drew on, and the generality of the birds began to 
take the flights to which all this family are addicted when feeding; 
but their noisiness had ceased; they were now only intent on 
sustenance. Whilst they were, on the contrary, previously en¬ 
gaged as just described they never deviated them flights for even 
a moment. 
So far, perhaps, the detail has been in coincidence with the 
experience of many other observers—“ revenge being satisfied, 
but no actual good attained,” save the death of the intruder; but 
how T the actions of the Martens closely approximate to reason 
and reflection! After sundry twitterings, although by no means 
so noisy as heretofore, a strong body of the Martens commenced 
to scratch down their self-appointed task of yesterday. Their 
assiduity was remarkable; they were constantly relieved by each 
other, and at length succeeded: of course the entombed Spar¬ 
row being hours back dead from suffocation. 
An entrance once obtained, some twelve or more of them, after 
tugging lustily and incessantly at the defunct, with the loudest 
acclamations, at length drew her from the nest, and actually 
carried her several yards, but, overburthened, they let fall the 
Sparrow; and in a few moments afterwards, the eggs, six in 
number, were similarly disposed of, each containing a nearly- 
matured Sparrow. 
In but little more than an hour after the destruction just 
named, quite contrary to my anticipations, scarcely a single 
Marten could be seen save the rightful owners, and these latter 
appeared to realise to the utmost the comforts consequent on so 
hardlv-won a home. Thus, to any person who did not witness 
this previous fray, these pair of birds seemed quite alone, and 
friendless altogether. During the noise and uproar which at¬ 
tended the exhumation of his mate, the male Sparrow never once 
appeared; nor did he even, as on the preceding day, rate them 
from a distance. 
The re-opening of the nest subsequent to the death of the 
Sparrow appears to my mind a new feature in such matters. The 
mere building-in of trespassers has been frequently recorded ; still 
in all prior cases that have come to my knowledge the intruder 
thus summarily punished has been left hermetically sealed up in 
its prison-house, no after attempt being made by the rightfnl 
owners at re-occupancy. 
The old pair of Martens still appear happy and contented in 
the full enjoyment of their dearly-bought habitation; and my 
sole object in bringing it before the readers of The Cottage 
Gardener is to elicit whether the ejectment of the body of the 
suffocated trespasser, and final re-occupation immediately after¬ 
wards of the same nest, have been before witnessed in disputes of 
this character.— Edward Hewitt, Spark Brook , Birmingham. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Young Turkeys Diseased [A Poultry Fancier in N. Northampton¬ 
shire ).—They have the roup. Treat them as directed to-day for the white 
Peacock, and, in addition, give each daily half a grain of powdered sulphate 
of copper, mixed thoroughly in some moist food. 
Roup in White Peacock. —“ I have a white Peacock which a week 
since began to sneeze and shake its head now and then, but now it scarcely 
ever ceases to do so. If you would inform me of any thing that will cure 
it, I shall feel very much obliged.”— An Anxious Writer. 
[Your Peacock has incipient roup. Pea-fowls are subject to it, hut 
seldom die of it. Give him a table-spoonful and a half of castor oil every 
day. Wash his nostrils well with cold vinegar and water. Feed him with 
oatmeal, and mix some salt with it. Give him also bread steeped in strong 
beer. If he lose condition so much that his tail drags on the ground, cut 
it off, as the weight will wear him out. His nostrils should he washed 
two or three times per day, till the sneezing is diminished.] 
Pontefract Poultry Show. —The First and Second prizes for Brahma 
Pootras were omitted in the list of prizes. Both pens were light coloured. 
First-prize pen nine months, other adults, and belonged to L, J. Brook, 
J.P., Gilly Gate, Pontefract. 
Lost Lf,tter (J. R. Huntley ).—AVe have no recollection of receiving a 
letter with this signature ; hut if we had, and the Editors thought it not 
of sufficient interest for publication, they would not do their duty if they 
did not reject it. 
Specimens of Bees (A Devonshire Bee-keeper ).—Your two honey bees 
are certainly of the same species, A. mellifica. Spinola expressly says, 
of the workers of his A. ligustica, that the three basal segments of the 
abdomen are brick-red at the base, with the hind margins black, fringed 
with red hairs, the remaining segments black, with similar marginal hairs. 
— (Ins. Dig., 1, 36.) 
LONDON MARKETS.— August 15. 
POULTRY. 
The trade is almost nominal, but the supply is as it has been all the 
season, very small. Grouse, from the English moors, have come in well; 
but the prices realised during the first two days are so ridiculous, we 
abstain from any quotation. 
Large Fowls.. 
Each— s . 
. 4 
cl. 
0 
to 
8. 
4 
d . 
6 
Turkeys. 
Each— s . 
. 0 
d . s. 
0 to 0 
d . 
0 
Smailer ditto 
Cmekens . 
. 3 
0 
3 
6 
Pigeons . 
. 0 
8 0 
9 
. 2 
0 
2 
6 
Guinea Fowls 
. 0 
0 > 
0 
0 
Geese. 
. 6 
0 
yy 
yy 
6 
6 
Rabbits . 
. 1 
4 , 
1 
5 
Ducks .. 
6 
3 
0 
Wild ditto .... 
. 0 
8 
, 0 
9 
