08 MEMOIR OP 



"dble to shoot one. It does not migrate, and is very 

 wild : it does not light either on trees or the ground. 

 It skims along the air like a swallow, and some- 

 times, in passing, catches the spiders on the trees. 

 It is not very unlike the Martin of Spain. It is 

 sometimes called the Bat-swalloic, from the resem- 

 blance, both in colour and uncertain flight ; at the 

 same time it is more rapid than all the rest. On 

 the wing, it executes every kind of movement, 

 sometimes merely fluttering, then outspreading its 

 wings, now mounting high, and then darting off in 

 a straight line, or obliquely. It threads the branches 

 of trees with the greatest address, and is so espe- 

 cially destined for flight, that it sometimes does not 

 repose for an instant during the whole day." 



From his zealous and able assistant, Noseda, he 

 obtained the following particulars. " I have often 

 pursued these birds, and never got a shot at one, 

 not only on account of the rapidity of their flight, 

 but also on account of their great shyness, which 

 prevents them ever coming within gunshot. At 

 the same time, they are very common. Tired of so 

 much useless fatigue, I ordered an Indian to exa- 

 mine if these Martins never perched upon the trees 

 during the hottest part of the day, and also to dis- 

 cover the places where they spent the night. This 

 Indian passed a whole week in the woods, and re- 

 marked that these birds never rested during the 

 day, and that they often soared out of sight. At 

 the same time, he discovered a tree of extraordinary 

 dimensions and very bushy, whence he perceived 



