UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 47 



When by these means a true surface has been 

 obtained, finer sand is used, and then emery of 

 increasing degrees of fineness, till the business 

 of grinding is finished, and the plate is given to 

 the polisher, whose operations my uncle was 

 obliged to reserve for another evening. 



20//i. Within the 4 last few days the swallow 

 has returned to us ; I remember seeing it last 

 autumn, but I did not notice it much. 



I have observed that its motions are very rapid, 

 and that it sometimes perches on the house, 

 where it makes an odd little twittering noise. 

 It is a very pretty bird ; the back and wings are 

 black, glossed with purple ; and the breast white, 

 with a spot of dull red upon it. I have often 

 read of swallows in poetry, and I shall be glad 

 to watch this little summer guest, as it sports in 

 the sunshine, or skims along the surface of the 

 water. This species is, I find, the house or 

 chimney swallow, and is distinguished from the 

 rest of the tribe by a small white spot on each 

 feather of the tail, which is more forked than 

 any other species. 



Mary tells me that these birds generally 

 appear in England about the middle of April, 

 though some few may be seen a little earlier ; 

 and that they remain to the end of September. 

 Their arrival, she says, is always considered to 



