246 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



non fa primavera f the Swedes, ^'En svala gor ingen som- 

 mar f^ which all mean, One swalloio doth not make a swn- 

 mer. The storj is well known of a thin brass plate having 

 been fixed on a swallow with this inscription : '' Prithee, 

 swallow, whither goest thou in winter ?" The bird return- 

 ed next spring with the answer subjoined, ^' To Anthony, 

 of Athens. Why dost thou inquire?" 



Out of this controversy evidence of their sudden autum- 

 nal adjournment to Africa accumulated in England. Wil- 

 son, in this country, showed that their advance could be 

 traced in the spring from New Orleans to Lake Superior 

 and back again, and their regular migration soon came to 

 be acknowledged. Then attention was turned to the sea- 

 son, manner, and hmits of their migrations, and it was found 

 that, taking advantage of favorable w^inds, immense flocks 

 of swallows — and many otlier birds of passage as well — 

 flying very high, passed each fall from the coast of Eng- 

 land to the coast of Africa, and from Continental Europe 

 across the Mediterranean direct, whence they spread south- 

 ward almost to the Cape of Good Hope. No sooner had 

 the spring fairly opened than 'they were suddenly back 

 again, very much exhausted at first with their long-sus- 

 tained effort, but speedily recuperated and "diligent in 

 business." Our own migrants, as I have mentioned, winter 



