popular 23tctumarj) of Slmmatrtt Jtature. 653 | 



to pass to southern regions at the approach 

 of winter: the Swallow alone, on whom 

 Heaven lias conferred superior powers of 

 wing, must sink in torpidity at the bottom 

 of our rivers, or doze all winter in the ca- 

 verns of the earth. I am myself something 

 of a traveller, and foreign countries afford 

 many novel sights : should I assert, tlr.it in 

 some of my peregrinations I had met with a 

 nation of Indians, all of whom, old and 

 young, at the commencement of cold wea- 

 ther, descend to the bottom of their lakes 

 and rivers, and there remain until the break- 

 ing up of frost i nay, should I uflirnWhat 

 thousands of people in the neighbourhood 

 of this city, regularly undergo the same 

 semi-annual submersion, that I myself had 

 fished up a whole family of these from the 

 bottom of Schuylkill, where they had lain 

 torpiil all winter, carried them home, and 

 brought them all comfortably to themselves 

 again should I even publish this in the 

 learned pages of the 'Transactions' of our 

 Philosophical Society, who would believe 

 me ? Is, then, the organization of a Swallow 

 less delicate than that of a man ? Can a 

 bird, whose vital functions are destroyed by 

 a short privation of pure air and its usual 

 food, sustain, for six months, a situation 

 where the most robust man would perish in 

 a few hours, or minutes ? Away with such 

 absurdities ! they ore unworthy of a serious 

 refutation." 



ENGLISH CHIMNEY or HOUSE SWALLOW. 

 (Jlirundo rustica.) In length this bird is 

 rather more than six inches : the bill is block ; 

 forehead and chin chestnut red ; top of the 

 head and all the up|>er parts of the body 

 black, glossed with purplish hue ; the quills 

 of the wings, according as they are seen in 

 different positions, are bluish black or green- 

 ish brown ; while those of the tail are black, 

 with green reflections : upper part of the 

 breast black ; lower part and belly white : 

 the inside and corners of the mouth yellow : 

 tail very long and much forked ; and each 

 feather, except the two middle ones, marked 

 with an oval white spot on the inner web : 

 legs short, delicately fine, and dusky. Every 

 person must have observed the elegant and 



of mud, rendered tough by a mixture of 

 hair and straw, lined with feathers, and 

 fixed firmly about three or four feet from | 

 the top of the inside of a chimney. The 

 I female lays five or six eggs, white, speckled ' 

 j with red ; and it generally has two broods ' 

 in the year. The nestlings are sometime* 

 dislodged from their nest, and fall down ; j 

 and when that is the case, the old ones will ; 

 frequently continue to supply them with 1 

 provisions until they are able to shift for ! 

 themselves. They generally make their first j 

 appearance in this country in the early part ; 

 of April, and retire from us to the south on 

 the approach of winter. For some time be- I 

 fore they quit this part of the world they 

 forsake houses, and roost on trees, preferring 

 the dead, leafless branches ; and within a day 

 or two of retiring, they assemble in vast flocks 

 on house-tops, the leads of churches, and on 

 trees, especially by the water side, from which 

 circumstance it has been erroneously sup- 

 posed that they retired into the water. 



The BARJT SWALLOW (Hirundo rvfa) in- 

 habits America, and receives its name from 

 its frequently attaching its nest to the rafters 

 in barns, &c. The upper parts are steel blue, 

 the lower light chestnut, and the wings and 

 tail brownish black : the tail is greatly 

 forked, and each feather, except the two 

 middle ones, is Uike the Chimney Swallow) 

 marked on the inner vane with an oval 

 white spot. The Barn Swallow's nest is in 

 the shape of an inverted cone, with a per- 

 pendicular section cut off on that side by 

 which it adheres to the wood : it is formed 

 of mud, mixed with fine hay, and disposed 

 in regular strata from side to side ; within 



varied flight of this 'jird, during the summer 

 months, when it is almost continually on 

 the wing, performing its various evolutions, 

 and searching for its insect food, which it 

 takes flying, and by suddenly opening its 

 mouth. The nest of this bird is composed 



there is a quantity of hay, which is profusely 

 lined with goose feathers. The eggs are ex- 

 tremely transparent ; white, sprinkled with 



reddish-brown, and are five in number. 

 When the young birds first leave the nest 

 they are observed to fly about within doors, 

 for some days before they venture out ; 

 which when they do they are conducted by 

 the old ones to the sides of rivers, &c., where 

 the food is most abundant, and they are fed 

 by them in the same manner as the Eu- 

 ropean Swallow does its young. These birds 

 are easily tamed, and soon become very 

 gentle and familiar. Their song is a sprightly 

 warble, and is sometimes continued for a 

 length of time. 



The CLIFF SWALLOW (Hirundo fulva) is 

 easily distinguished by its even tail. The 

 upper parts of the body are black, glossed 

 with violaceous ; the under parts whitish, 

 tinged with ferruginous brown ; the throat 

 and cheeks dark ferruginous ; and the front 

 pale rufous. It lives in communities, build- 

 ing in unsettled places, under projecting 

 ledges of rocks. The nests arc formed of 

 mnd, are very friable, and somewhat re- 

 semble in form a chemist's retort. Their 

 note is very singular, and may be imitated 

 by rubbing moistened cork round the neck 

 of a bottle. It is a native of North America. 



The MARTI A, MARTLET, or WINDOW 

 SWALLOW. (Jfirundo [G'AehWon] nrbica.) 

 This species ol Swallow, with which all per- 



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