652 



Crradurp of Natural 



which, the Short Sim-fish (Orihuftoriscus 

 Tola), and the Oblong Sun-fish (Orthayuris- 

 oblongus), are found in the British seas. 



SURGEON-FISH. [See ACANTHUEUS.] 

 SURINAM TOAD. [See PIPA.J 



SURMULLET, or STRIPED RED 

 MULLET. (. Wiillits sunn nlrt us.) This fish, 

 which is a native of the Mediterranean, and 

 found there in abundance, is also of frequent 

 occurrence on the southern and western 

 coasts of England. It seldom exceeds four- 

 teen inches in length, nnd even that is ac- 

 counted very large. Its colour is an elegant 

 rose-red, tinged with olive 011 the back, and 



SORMULETna.) 



of a silvery cast towards the abdomen ; 

 marked on each side by two, and sometimes 

 three, longitudinal lines. In the Mackerel 

 season they are often taken with a draught 

 of those fishes ; and so abundant are they 

 occasionally, that in August 1819, five thou- 

 sand were taken in one night in Weymouth 

 Bay. Mr. Yarrell observes that " the Striped 

 Red Mullet has been considered migratory ; 

 but it appears in the shops of the London 

 fishmongers throughout the year, though in 

 much greater plenty during the summer, at 

 which time their colours are most vivid, and 

 the fish, as food, in the best condition. The 

 food appears to be selected from among the 

 softer crustaceous and molluscous animals." 

 [See MULLET.] 



SWALLOW. (Hirundo.) This well- 

 known group of birds has often been eulo- 

 gised by the lovers of nature ; but no one, 

 perhaps, has expressed his admiration with 

 more truth and fervour than our own philo- 

 sophic countryman, Sir Humphry Davy. 

 "The Swallow," he says, "is one of my fa- 

 vourite birds, and a rival of the nightingale, 

 for he cheers my sense of seeing as much as 

 the other does my sense of hearing. He is 

 the glad prophet of the year, the harbinger 

 of the best season he lives a life of enjoy- 

 ment amongst the loveliest forms of nature 

 winter is unknown to Mm ; and he leaves 

 the green meadows of England in autumn 

 for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, 

 and for the palms of Africa ; he has always 

 objects of pursuit, and his success is secure. 

 Even the beings selected for his prey are 

 poetical, beautiful, and transient. The ephe- 

 meras are saved by his means from a slow 

 and lingering death in the evening, and 

 killed in a moment when they have known 

 nothing but pleasure. He is the constant 

 destroyer of insects, the friend of man. and 

 may be regarded as a sacred bird. His in- 

 stinct, which gives him his appointed season, 

 and teaches him when and where to move, 



may be regarded as flowing from a Divine 

 source ; and he belongs to the oracles of 

 nature, which speak the awful and intelligi- 

 ble language of a present Deity." 



The habits and modes of living of the 

 Swallow tribe are perhaps more conspicuous, 

 and consequently more noticed by us, than 

 any other. Their arrival has ever been 

 associated in our minds with the idea of 

 spring ; and till the time of their departure 

 they seem continually before our eyes. The 

 air seems to be truly their home : they cat, 

 drink, sometimes even feed their young, on 

 the wing, and surpass all other birds in the 

 untiring rapidity of their flight and evolu- 

 tions. The beak is very short, broad at the 

 base, much flattened, and very deeply cleft, 

 forming a large mouth, well adapted to the 

 purpose of seizing winged insects, which 

 constitute their accustomed food. The feet 

 are very short, and the wings remarkably 

 long. In winter they migrate to tropical 

 climates, a few days being sufficient for them 

 to pass from the arctic to the torrid zone. 

 In the spring they return ; and it has been 

 found by experiment that individual birds 

 always come back to their former haunts. 

 They usually have two broods in the year ; 

 some will occasionally have three ; their 

 nests are made of mud, rendered firm by a 

 mixture of hair, twigs, and such kinds of 

 materials. They are fond of flying over the 

 surface of rivers and brooks, and sipping the 

 water, without staying their flight. They 

 are found in every country of the world. 



Few subjects in natural history have given 

 rise to more discussion than to determine 

 the winter retreat of Swallows. It has long 

 been clearly ascertained, that they migrate 

 to warmer climates when they disappear in 

 northern countries ; and that they also creep 

 into hollow trees and holes in the clefts of 

 rocks, where they lie all the winter in a 

 torpid state ; but at one time it was firmly 

 believed that they also retreated into water, 

 and revived again in spring. Upon this 

 subject, however, we will quote some of 

 Wilson's graphic and, we think, conclusive 

 remarks. After stating that the Swallow 

 flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile 

 in a minute ; that he is so engaged for ten 

 hours every day ; and that his active life is, 

 on an average, extended to ten years which 

 would give us two million one hundred and 

 ninety thousand miles : upwards of eighty- 

 seven times the circumference of the globe I 

 " Yet," says he, " this little winged seraph, 

 if I may so speak, who, in a few days, and 

 at will, can pass from the borders of the 

 arctic regions to the torrid zone, is forced, 

 when winter approaches, to descend to the 

 bottoms of lakes, rivers, and mill-ponds, to 

 bury itself in the mud with eels and snap- 

 ping turtles ; or to creep ingloriously into a 

 cavern, a rat-hole, or a hollow tree, there to 

 doze, with snakes, toads, and other reptiles, 

 until the return of spring ! Is not this true, 

 ye wise men of Europe and America, who 

 have published so many credible narratives 

 on this subject ? The geese, the ducks, the 

 cat-bird, and even the wren, which creeps 

 about our outhouses in summer like a mouse, 

 are all acknowledged to be migratory, and 



