CHAPTER V 



ROUND THE YEAR AMONG THE BRITISH MIGRATORY 

 BIRDS : SPRING 



The Swallow knows her time, 



And, on the vernal breezes, wings her way 



O'er mountain, plain, and far-extending seas, 



From Afric's torrid sands to Britain's shore. — Graham. 



That migratory birds observe with remarkable regu- 

 larity the times of their coming and going, has been 

 known since the days of the prophets ; and this fact 

 so much impressed the untutored redskin of the fur- 

 countries, that, in framing his primitive calendar, he 

 named the recurring moons after the migrants whose 

 appearance was synchronous with their advent. In our 

 own country the arrival of certain well-known species 

 has long been associated with the advent of the 

 seasons, or noted as an indication of their meteoro- 

 logical peculiarities. 



The seasonal movements relate to the spring, 

 autumn, and winter. Summer proper has no place 

 in the calendar of bird-migration, but it is closely 

 eipproached by the late spring movements, and is actually 

 trenched upon by migrations which from their nature can 

 only be classified with those of the autumn. 



The migrations undertaken during each of the 

 seasons have characteristics and peculiarities of their 



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