THE SWALLOW. 251 



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 instinct, 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 intelligible language of a present 

 deity." 



Martins, in addition to the nests in which they lay their 

 eggs, build near them the apparent foundations of several 

 others. On one of these the male roosts, while the female is 

 sitting, and they both sometimes rest on them in the day 

 time. Mr. White, however, thinks that these supernumerary 

 constructions are the effect of caprice. Martins are the least 

 agile and shortest winged of all the Swallow tribe. They 

 take their prey in a middle region, not so high as the swift, 

 nor do they usually sweep the ground so low as the Swallow. 

 They breed the latest of all the Swallow genus, and usually 

 stay with us latest ; like red-breasts, they are seldom seen at 

 any distance from the habitations of man. They repair and 

 inhabit nests of many years standing, to effect which they 

 gather moss and grasses from the roofs of houses. I observe 

 that when swifts unite flying they raise their wings over their 

 backs. When Swallows bring out their broods, they place 

 them on rails that go across a stream, and so take their food 

 up and down the river, feeding their young in exact rotation. 

 These generally keep in a row, close, or nearly so, to each 

 other. If a hawk is in the air above them, the young Swal- 

 lows may be seen turning their eyes towards it. It is extra- 

 ordinary how soon instinct teaches animals to discover and 

 avoid what may be hurtful to them. The reason of young 

 Swallows being often found dead under the nest is, from their 

 throwing themselves out in consequence of the nests being so 

 full of insects as to become insupportable. 



When Swallows are preparing to migrate, I observe that 

 they take two or three flights to some heighth in the air, re- 



