38 HISTORY OF THE 



given rise to the opinion that European swallows 

 pass the winter season in a state of torpidity. 



It did not come to my knowledge, that these 

 late broods are sometimes deserted by the parent 

 birds, before they are capable of providing for 

 themselves, till the spring of 1821 ; when a pair 

 of martins, after taking possession of a nest that 

 had been constructed in the preceding summer, 

 drew out the dried bodies of three nearly full 

 fledged nestlings which had perished in it, pre- 

 paratory to appropriating it to their own pur- 

 poses. About the same time, and near the same 

 spot, a similar attempt was made by another 

 pair of martins, but all their efforts to dislodge 

 the young proving ineffectual, they entirely closed 

 up the aperture with clay, and so converted the 

 nest into a sepulchre. 



At first I was disposed to attribute the untimely 

 fate of the nestlings, thus unexpectedly disco- 

 vered, to the accidental destruction of one or 

 both of their parents ; but a little reflection in- 

 duced me to change my opinion. So many 

 instances were called to mind of the sudden 

 departure of martins, at periods when, to all 

 appearance, they were most busily engaged in 

 providing for their families, that what before was 

 regarded as the unavoidable consequence of a 



