182 THE PASSING OF THE BIRDS. 



they mounted into the sky in a great spiral 

 till they passed out of sight; and for that 

 year there were no more swallows. This, 

 he insisted, took place in the afternoon, 

 "from three to four o'clock." He was un- 

 questionably telling a straightforward story 

 of what he himself had seen, but his memory 

 may have been at fault ; for I find it to be 

 the settled opinion of those who ought to 

 know, that swallows migrate by day and not 

 by night, while the setting out of a great 

 flock late in the afternoon at such a height 

 would seem to indicate a nocturnal journey. 

 Morning or evening, I would give something 

 to witness so imposing a start. 



The recollection of this seaside gathering 

 raises anew in my mind the question why, if 

 swallows and swifts migrate exclusively in 

 the daytime, we so rarely see anything of 

 them on the passage. Our Ipswich birds 

 were all tree swallows, white-breasted 

 martins, and might fairly be supposed to 

 have come together from a comparatively 

 limited extent of country. But beside tree 

 swallows there are purple martins, barn 

 swallows, sand martins, cliff swallows, and 

 chimney swifts, all of which breed to the 



