THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 245 



hours the roof has been suddenly deserted, and the 

 swallows have winged their flight seawards. Observations 

 of this kind rather confirm the theory that swallows in a 

 body migrate southward to a warmer clime, and refutes the 

 somewhat fantastical idea that they bury themselves in 

 the soil, or remain in a torpid state in our own land, during 

 the winter. 



Now to its generic markings. The adult male has the 

 head and upper parts deep steel blue, running into a black 

 band ; the fore part of the head and throat deep chestnut ; 

 the belly and feet of a reddish-white, tinged with brown ; 

 a large white spot on the inner webs of most of the 

 feathers; the outer feathers narrowing towards the ends. 

 The coloration of the female is more sombre, and the fore- 

 head shows a darker chestnut. There are instances of pure 

 white coloration throughout. When in search of com- 

 missariat they hunt in small colonies, and are most easily 

 discernible by their flight. 



THE PASSING OF THE SWALLOW. 



The question whether this bird in its species or 

 family does really leave this country in the fall of the 

 year, has exercised the minds of naturalists in every 

 age, and from time immemorial, and it would be well 

 to weigh the pros and cons as to the truth. The task is 

 a big one, inasmuch as the mind and observations of 

 mortal man are infinitely inferior to so gigantic a work as 

 finding out Nature, that is, God. The more one probes 

 into the whys and wherefores of the laws of Nature the 

 more insignificant does the created being feel himself 

 before the Maker of all. 



In this connection, however, it would be well to scan 

 superficially the opinions expressed from time to time, 

 and probably some who peruse these lines may be inclined 

 to offer suggestions, as in the recent literary debate which 

 my notes on "Can fishes hear?" produced. 



R 2 



