268 



SWALLOWS. 



Staphylinus Brachypterus 

 (Magnified). 



the insect, as in the 

 case of its larger repre- 

 sentative on the gravel 

 walk, on being caught, 

 instantly darts up its 

 tail, covered with simi- 

 lar sharp and fork-like 

 appendages. 



Our readers, on pe- 

 rusing the above narra- 

 tive of the torpid state 

 of the migratory Swallows, may have been surprised 

 that spiders should be found in the mouth of a bird col- 

 lecting its food on the wing ; but they will be still more 

 so, in hearing that spiders form a very considerable part 

 of the food of the Swift, which flies higher in search of 

 insects than any other insect-feeding bird. The fact is, 

 the air is abundantly tenanted with small spiders, and to 

 a height almost incredible. Of the quantity, we may 

 form some idea, by the perfect carpeting of webs which 

 are occasionally seen in an autumnal morning, glistening 

 with moisture. These are the webs of the gossamer- 

 spider, which, rendered heavier by the dew collecting on 

 their slender threads, fall to the ground, and cover whole 

 acres. 



Of the height to which these spiders rise, we have the 

 evidence of a person, who, from the summit of York 

 Minster, nearly two hundred feet above the ground, 

 found himself surrounded by immense flights of little 

 spiders, floating upwards on their airy webs, and could 

 perceive them, in equal numbers, higher in the air, as 

 far as the eye, aided by a good telescope, could reach. 



It is a common weather rule, that when Swallows fly 

 low, there will be rain ; but when high, it will be fair. 

 The reason may be readily guessed. They feed entirely, 

 as we have said, upon insects ; and the flight of insects 

 depends, in a great degree, on the state of the air : if it 

 is clear and dry, they rise ; if moist, or likely to be so, 



