85 MIGRATION AND FLIGHT. 



at least occasionally, take this line we know, from the very 

 curious fact of one settling on the rigging, and caught on board 

 a vessel bound to the French port of Havre, beneath the wing 

 of which was found a very small slip of paper, on which was 

 written in French, "The ship Armide, Captain Borgnet, 

 going to Martinique, latitude 48 33' north, longitude io° 30/ 

 west." On reference to the map, it will be seen that this 

 point is nearly in a straight line, drawn from the Land's End 

 in England to the western coast of Africa. 



It might be supposed, taking place as these journeys do 

 with Swallows twice in the year, that frequent opportunities 

 would occur of seeing their arrival or departure in flocks, but, 

 with the exception of straggling parties of ten or twelve at a 

 time, few have been fortunate enough to see them either come 

 or go ; whence it has been inferred, that they pursue their 

 course at night. And that this is the case we can give 

 tolerably good evidence from actual observation. Happening 

 to be at Fecamp, a seaport at the foot of the highest cliffs in 

 France, immediately opposite the English coast, on the 14th 

 of September 1833, we had ascended the heights to visit the 

 ruins of an old chapel before sunrise. On looking towards 

 the sea, the first object presenting itself was a flight of about 

 one hundred Swallows, evidently just making the land, and 

 whirling in a hurried manner over the upper ledge of the 

 precipice. On the supposition that these birds had quitted 

 the British shores about an hour before dawn, they would 

 naturally have arrived at the point where they were thus seen 

 landing : others had probably come in before ; as in the course 

 of the morning we saw, on the roof of a large building in the 

 town, which was exposed to the full force of the sun's rays, 

 an infinitely greater number of Swallows collected together 

 than we had observed throughout the whole of the season. 



That this is the practice of many other birds indeed is well 

 known, particularly of those which are in the habit of feeding 

 at night. In the fen countries, for instance, which, on account 

 of their ditches and marshes, are favourite haunts for water- 

 birds, in almost every still night, more especially about the 



