216 HIBUNDINIDE. 



but disappeared before morning. The author of the Natural 

 History of Aragon says they arrive there very early in the 

 spring. In the direct line of their northern course, and 

 having passed over France, Sir Charles Wager says, " In 

 the spring of the year, as I came into soundings in our Chan- 

 nel, a great flock of Swallows came and settled on all my 

 rigging ; every rope was covered ; they hung on one another 

 like a swarm of bees, the decks and carving were filled with 

 them. They seemed almost famished and spent, and were 

 only feathers and bone ; but being recruited with a nighfs 

 rest, took their flight in the morning."''' In reference to their 

 return by the same line of route, Gilbert White, in his 23rd 

 letter, says, " If ever I saw anything like actual migration, 

 it was last Michaelmas day. I was travelling, and out early 

 in the morning : at first there was a vast fog ; but by the 

 time I was got seven or eight miles from home towards the 

 coast, the sun broke out into a delicate warm day. We were 

 then on a large heath or common, and I could discern as the 

 mist began to break away, great numbers of Swallows cluster- 

 ing on the stunted shrubs and bushes, as if they had roosted 

 there all night. As soon as the air became clear and plea- 

 sant, they all were on the wing at once ; and by a placid and 

 easy flight, proceeded on southward towards the sea ; after 

 this I did not see any more flocks, only now and then a 

 straggler." 



Arrived in this country. Swallows seem to prefer those 

 habitations of man which are in the vicinity of water, whether 

 of river or lake, probably as affording a greater abundance, as 

 well as variety, of the winged insect food upon which they 

 entirely subsist. These are sought for in the air during the 

 greater part of the day, the power of flight enjoyed by these 

 birds, and indeed by all the species of this interesting family, 

 enabling them to remain on the wing for hours in succession 

 in pursuit of their prey, without any apparent lassitude. In 



