330 THE SWALLOW. 



casions witnessed their departure. The large old 

 buildings which are found in the neighbourhood 

 of the river Thames, are much frequented by swal- 

 lows and martins in the Autumn. Here they 

 congregate in immense numbers, and also on the 

 tops of the surrounding high trees, sometimes 

 taking a flight as if by one consent; and then re- 

 turning to the same spots again. At night they 

 roost in countless numbers on the willows grow- 

 ing on the different aits or small islets on the 

 river. Their final departure seems to depend on 

 the state of the weather, but generally takes place 

 towards the evening. They ascend to a conside- 

 rable height, and soon afterwards not one is to be 

 seen. That migratory birds are enabled to take 

 their unerring flight during the night cannot be 

 doubted. They neither require a star to guide or 

 a moon to light them, and yet they are enabled to 

 traverse the trackless ocean to far distant coun- 

 tries, till they return to enliven us again with their 

 presence. 



The sight, indeed, of the first swallow in Spring 

 always affords me peculiar pleasure. It is impos- 

 sible not to feel an interest in all the tribe. They 

 are the harbingers of fine weather after a dreary 

 winter ; and we are cheered with their melodious 

 song, which has something in it so congenial to 

 our feelings of pleasure, that poets in all ages have 

 noticed it. If we watch a pair of window swallows 



