THE SWALLOW. 327 



morning, a most fearful and violent tempest of 

 wind and rain arose from the west and south-west, 

 causing dreadful disasters on the coast, attended 

 with considerable loss of life. 



After this statement, the question may very na- 

 turally be asked, whether or not these poor birds, 

 perceiving indications of the coming storm, when 

 over the surface of the ocean, had returned to the 

 coast of Lancashire in order to avoid it? This 

 was most probably the case ; and if so, it shews 

 wonderful foresight, and instinctive knowledge of 

 the danger they would encounter in continuing 

 their course to distant regions. It would also be 

 an interesting thing to ascertain, whether they 

 were emigrants from the north of England, from 

 Scotland, or from Ireland. If from the south of 

 England, they might have been expected to have 

 landed in the south rather than in Lancashire. 



Not a single martin was visible amongst these 

 swallows, nor was one seen in the neighbourhood 

 after .the fourth of October. 



If the swallows returned to avoid the coming 

 tempest, they seemed reluctant to resume their 

 migration, as on the fifteenth of October several 

 of them were seen, and on the twentieth of that 

 month a pair of them were observed about a mile 

 from Liverpool, occasionally flying about, and 

 sometimes perched on the cornice of a house, en- 

 joying the sunshine, apparently healthy and alert. 



