WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



graph of British Sicalloics, apparently with no 

 other object than to present the arguments for and 

 against the theory of their annual submersion and 

 torpidity. One of the difficulties which the sub- 

 mersionists put in the way of the nii^ationists was 

 the frequent accidental and isolated appearance 

 of the swallow before its usual time — a fact which 

 has occasioned a proverb in almost every language. 

 The French have, '' Une hirondelle ne fait pas le 

 printemps"; the Germans, " Eine Schwalbe macht 

 keinen Sommer"; the Dutch, " Een zwaluw inaak 

 geen zomer"; the Italians, " Una rodine non fa 

 primavera"; the Swedes, '' En svala gor ingen cmn- 

 niar"; which all mean, "" O^ie sivalloiv doth not make 

 a sunifner." The story is well known of a thin 

 brass plate having been fixed on a house-swallow 

 with this inscription: "Prithee, swallow, whither 

 goest thou in winter?'' The bird returned next 

 spring with the answer subjoined : " To Anthony, 

 of Athens. Why dost thou inquire?" 



Out of this controversy evidence of their sudden 

 autumnal adjournment to iVfrica accumulated in 

 England. Wilson, 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 ac- 



279 



