Hii'undo ful v a of Veillot. 157 



In Greece and Italy, they generally make their appearance 

 about the vernal Equinox ; and being the harbingers and com- 

 panions of spring, are identified with its beauties and delights. 

 Horace, in an Epistle to Maecenas, promises to leave his winter 

 retirement in due season. 



Te dulcis amice, reviset 



Cum Zephyris, si concedes, et liiruudine prima. 



The time of its coining regulated the important operations of 

 husbandry. Hesiod, in his "Works and Days," inculcates an 

 early attention to the pruning of the vine, and says 



'Tis dangerous to delay, 



Till with complaints the swallow breaks the day. 



The intimate connexion between the vegetation of plants 

 and the arrival of certain birds, has long been observed. Dr. 

 Barton says that the woodcock visits Philadelphia when the 

 elm is in blossom. Linne observed that the Anemone ne- 

 morosa blows in Sweden on the arrival of the common swallow ; 

 and the appearance of the Pewe, Pewit, or Phebe, Muscicapa 

 nunciola, with us is the signal of the cessation of severe 

 frosts. The arrival of the swallow was considered an indica- 

 tion of spring ; and the subsequent evolutions of this bird 

 were noticed as prognostics of the weather. Virgil says, 



Nunquam imprudentibus imber 



Obsint 



Aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit Ilirundo. 



In almost all countries, whatever may be the climate, the 

 swallow is a migratory bird. Herodotus, indeed, excepts 

 Egypt, and says that swallows and kites never emigrate from 

 the country through which the Nile passes, and the same has 

 been said of Japan. Being an insectivorous animal, its mi- 

 grations do not depend on climate, but have generally been con- 



