384 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



the llth of November, in a subsequent year, 

 when it was found that of twenty-two nests then 

 examined, eight of them contained dead young, 

 amounting together to nineteen in number ; and 

 five nests contained eggs amounting together to 

 sixteen. 



Dr. Jenner, in a note quoted by Mr. Yarrell, 

 relates a somewhat similar circumstance ; he says : 

 " A pair of martins hatched four broods of young 

 ones in the house of a tradesman in this place, in 

 the year 1785. The latter brood was hatched in 

 the early part of October. About the middle of 

 the month the old birds went off, and left their 

 young ones, about half-fledged, to perish. The 

 pair returned to the nest the 17th of May, 1787, 

 and threw the skeletons out." 



It is deserving of remark, that the birds which 

 have this feature in their history are, so far as our 

 acquaintance extends, exclusively migratory birds. 

 It is impossible for them to remain in our country 

 after a certain time, since exposure to its severities 

 of winter weather would infallibly terminate in 

 the death of both parents and offspring. Swallows, 

 house-martins, sand-martins, and swifts, all of 

 which have been found guilty of this act of 



