CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES. 273 



the whorls more scattered upon a thinner and longer axis, we can easily under- 

 stand how the bracts, retaining their shape, should assume the appearance and 

 size of leaves, and that the flowers, in the midst of this development of herbaceous 

 parts, should become the largest and least numerous. This, in short, is the - 

 whole mystery, and this remarkable form is only due to a greater distension of 

 the parts of the inflorescence. 



Lythrum alternifolium therefore ranks no longer as a species, or even as a 

 variety, since this form, which one may, so to speak, produce at pleasure, is the 

 result of mere chance. — Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Nov. 1830. 



CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES. 



ZOOLOGY. 

 Temerity of the House Swallow (Hirundo urbica). — On passing, a few 

 weeks since, along a narrow road way, between a range of out-buildings and a 

 garden wall, I was surprised by the sudden passage of some dark body, immediately 

 over my head. I at first suspected it was a stone, but on quickly looking up, 

 found that it was a House * Swallow that had just passed me. As I stood 

 wondering at what could induce the bird to approach so close, I received another 

 visit of the same kind, and after this several more, the bird passing each time 

 within three or four inches of my hat. The next day, walking along the same 

 road, I received a like salutation, and then discovered that the Swallows had a 

 nest in the out-houses. This sudden darting at my head, with loud snaps of the 

 bill, evidently for the purpose of driving me from the nest, continued several 

 days ; and although a party of Swallows generally assembled in the air, above 

 my head, I found that only one pair were engaged in active service. Each day 

 they became more bold, and every attack was attended by a kind of scream 

 preceded by a loud chatter. I was never attacked as long as I kept a respectful 

 distance from the nest. About ten days or a fortnight after the first attack, I 

 resolved to peep in the nest, and effected this amid the screams and dartings of 

 the agitated owners. I found in it young birds fully fledged. On looking into 

 the nest the following day I found that the young birds were gone, but the 

 attacks of the parents were renewed as usual. This, however, was the last time, 

 for I have ever since been allowed to pass the spot unmolested. Since noticing 

 the foregoing fact I have experienced similar treatment from another pair of 

 House Swallows, but the attacks were not so violent as in the former instance, 

 amounting to nothing more than a slight chattering, and darting past me at the 



