CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 238 



account. About the fii'st of May the Swallows came out of it in large 

 numbers, about the middle of the day, and soon returned. As the 

 weather grew warmer they came out in the morning with a loud noise, 

 or roar, and were soon dispersed. About half an hour before sundown 

 they returned in millions, circulating two or three times round the tree, 

 and then descending like a stream into a hole about sixty feet from the 

 ground. It was customary for persons in the vicinity to visit this tree 

 to observe the motions of these birds : and when any persons disturbed 

 their operations by striking violently against the tree with their axes, 

 the Swallows would rush out in millions and with a great noise. In 

 November, 1791, the top of this tree was blown down twenty feet below 

 where the Swallows entered. There has been no appearance of the 

 Swallows since. Upon cutting down the" remainder an immense quan- 

 tity of excrements, quills and feathers, were found, but no appearance 

 or relics of any nests. 



" Another of these Swallow trees was at Bi'idport, The man who 

 lived the nearest to it gave this account. The Swallows were first 

 observed to come out of the tree in the spring about the time that the 

 leaves first began to appear on the trees ; from that season they came 

 out in the morning about half an hour after sunrise. They rushed out 

 like a stream, as big as the hole in the tree would admit, and ascended 

 in a perpendicular line until they were above the height of the adjacent 

 trees ; then assumed a circular motion, performing their evolutions two 

 or three times, but always in a larger circle, and then dispersed in 

 every direction. A little before sundown they returned in immense 

 numbers, forming several circular motions, and then descended like a 

 stream into the hole, from whence they came out in the morning. 

 About the middle of September they were seen entering the tree for the 

 last time. These birds were all of the species called the House or 

 Chimney Swallow. The tree was a large hollow elm ; the hole at which 

 they entered was about forty feet above the ground, and about nine 

 inches in diameter. The Swallows made their first appearance in the 

 spring and their last appearance in the fall in the vicinity of this tree ; 

 and the neighboring inhabitants had no doubt but that the Swallows 

 continued in it during the winter. A few years ago a hole was cut at 

 the bottom of the tree ; from that time the Swallows have been gradually 

 forsaking the tree and have now almost deserted it." 



Though Mr. Williams himself, as he informs us, is led to believe frori 

 these and some other particulars which he details, " that the House 

 Swallow in this part of America generally resides during the winter in 

 the hollow of trees ; and the Ground Swallows [Bank Swallows] find 

 security in the mud at the bottom of lakes, rivers, and ponds," yet I 

 cannot in the cases just cited see any sufficient cause for such a belief. 

 The birds were seen to pass out on the first of May or in the spring 



