SWALLOW. 8 1 



he captured many with the threads still round 

 their legs, and with the colours almost as bright as 

 at first ; thus proving that they returned to the 

 same places, and they did not retire beneath the 

 water. These birds are always very much reduced 

 in number when they return in the spring, proba- 

 bly from many of them being exhausted by fa- 

 tigue in crossing the sea, and being consequently 

 drowned. 



Bewick relates the following experiments, which 

 were communicated to him by Sir John Tre- 

 velyan, and performed by Mr. Pearson ; which are 

 well deserving the attention of naturalists. " Five 

 or six of these birds were taken about the latter 

 end of August, 1 784, in a bat-fowling net, at night ; 

 they were put separately into small cages, and fed 

 with Nightingale's food. In about a week or ten 

 days they took the food of themselves : they were 

 then put all together into a deep cage, four feet 

 long, with gravel at the bottom ; a broad shallow 

 pan with water was placed in it, in which they 

 eometimes washed themselves, and seemed much 

 strengthened by it. One day Mr. Pearson ob- 

 served that they went into the water with unusual 

 eagerness, hurrying in and out again repeatedly, 

 with such swiftness as if they had been sud- 

 denly seized with a frenzy. Being anxious to see 

 the result, he left them to themselres about half 

 an hour, and on going to the cage again found 

 them all huddled together in a corner, appa- 

 rently dead ; the cage was then placed at a 

 proper distance from the fire, when two of them 



v. x. p. i. 6 



