332 THE SWALLOW. 



the intruders, till they are glad to make their 

 escape. This propensity of the swallow is turned 

 to good account in some of the States of America. 

 A Colonel of one of Her Majesty's battalions of 

 foot-guards informed me of the following curious 

 fact. During a tour he had recently made in the 

 State of Georgia and some other parts of America, 

 he observed, in many farm-yards, a sort of small 

 pigeon-house, fixed on a strong post, with the ne- 

 cessary feeding places. These were inhabited by 

 a colony of swallows, who were the guardians of 

 the place, and their exertions were rewarded by a 

 careful protection from every injury. The vul- 

 tures, which abound in those parts of the country, 

 where the colonies are met with, would commit 

 great depredations on the poultry in the farm- 

 yard, except for the prowess of these birds. No 

 sooner does a vulture appear, than he is instantly 

 attacked by the whole colony of swallows, who 

 fly at his head with so much courage, and so un- 

 ceasingly, uttering their wild screams all the time, 

 that the marauder is glad to make a hasty retreat. 

 The idea that swallows hide themselves during 

 the winter, at the bottom of rivers and lakes, is 

 still prevalent ill some parts of England. When 

 I was on a visit at the house on the beautiful is- 

 land on the Windermere Lake, I was informed, 

 that a person in the neighbourhood of Grassmere 

 Lake, has seen swallows emerging from it, Wish- 



