APRIL. 91 



his most intimate acquaintance will scarcely know him by 

 his voice ; but I have heard him utter the note you describe. 

 — My friend, Mr. Jaques, informed me of a curious circum- 

 stance which occurred a few days ago. He found on his 

 barn floor, just fallen from the roof, a Barn Swallow (Hi- 

 rundo Americana), dead and dry. He showed it to me : 

 the feet were extended, as if sitting on a plane surface ; it 

 appeared to be a young bird (though perfectly fledged), from 

 its size, being not more than five inches in length, and from 

 the exterior feathers of the tail being scarcely longer than 

 the others : but what is most curious, is the fact, that a per- 

 fect egg was attached to the vent, stuck on to the feathers, 

 apparently by some glutinous substance. This egg Mr. J. 

 broke in taking it up ; the yolk was yellow, not putrified, 

 but thickened in consistence. I was at a loss to account for 

 the fact of a full-fledged young bird and a sound egg being in 

 the same nest ; but mentioning the circumstance to an ex- 

 perienced ornithologist, he threw much light upon it, by 

 telling me, that towards the end of the season, the swallow 

 becomes very irregular with respect to the time of its laying. 

 The young bird was probably deserted, owing to its not being 

 sufficiently matured to accompany the parents in their mi- 

 gration. It was no doubt the dung of the bird which caused 

 the egg to adhere to its feathers. 



C. — See ! the Coatacook is breaking up ; as we came 

 over this bridge a few hours ago, the ice appeared firm and 

 solid, though covered with water ; but now it is cracking, 

 and going down the large open channel in the middle of the 

 river. 



i^. — I knew it had been unsafe for many days : the large 

 holes around the posts of the bridge, the openings near the 

 banks, and the depth of water that covered the main body 

 of ice, all have shown that the disruption could not be far 



