64 PASSERES. 



The swallows have a short modulated strain, repeated at intervals, always 

 ending in a shrill note rapidly shaken. Early in the morning they may be 

 heard twittering from the " clay-built shed" or from the chimney-top, and pre- 

 vious to the autumnal migration, when groups collect together, they are voice- 

 ful, as if debating the great event of their journey, whether the due time has 

 come, or the season will admit of lingering a little longer. 



Previous to their departure, the chhnney swallows congregate in flocks of 

 three or four hundred, on houses or trees, and usually.steal off in the night, 

 perhaps to avoid the birds of prey ; sometimes, however, they have been seen 

 to take their departure in broad daylight, parties of forty or tifty gliding aloft 

 in the air, and maintaining a flight not only much more elevated than ordinary, 

 but also more uniform and steady. On such occasions their progress is always 

 in a southerly direction, and they seem to avail themselves as much as pos- 

 sible of favourable winds. When no obstacles interfere, they usually arrive in 

 Africa in the first week in October ; but, if checked by a south-east wind, they 

 halt, like other birds of passage, upon the islands that lie in their track. In 

 Greece and similar latitudes, although they are generally migratory, some of 

 them will occasionally remain during the winter, as, for example, on the island 

 of Hycres and on the coast of Genoa, where they pass the night in the open 

 country on the orange trees. 



Did swallows fail to make their appearance for a single summer, the conse- 

 quences would be disastrous : our land would be overwhelmed with insects, 

 and not merely intolerable annoyance but actual famine might ensue. Hence 

 the impolicy, as well as cruelty, of destroying these harmless visitors, simply 

 for the purpose of improving the practical skill of the soi-disant sportsman. 



TRIBE II. 

 TENUIROSTRES. 



In this division of the Passerine or Perching Birds, the bill is 

 of varied length and shape, but always slender, with the tip of 

 the upper mandible entire, and usually acute. The tarsi are 

 short ; the toes generally long, especially the hind toe, which is 

 strong and armed with a prominent claw. 



FAMILY T. 



THE HOOPOES. UPUPID/E. 



General Characteristics.— Bill lengthened, slender, curved or straight for its 

 entire length ; the sides compressed to the tip, which is acute ; the nostrils basal 

 and rather small ; the wings long and rounded ; the tail more or less long and 

 rounded or even ; the tarsi strong and usually short ; the toes long and strong ; the 

 outer toe more or less united at its base, the hind toe long ; the claws strong, long, 

 and curved. 



These birds are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere. They are 

 found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and are migratory at certain 



