THE SWALLOW. 253 



Mr. White remarks that the house or chimney Swallow is, 

 undoubtedly, the first comer of all the British hir undines, and 

 that it in general makes its appearance on or about the 13th 

 of April. Late or early, however, I am always glad to see it, 

 forming, as it does, an essential part in the hilarity of nature : 



" Gentle bird ! we find thee here, 



When nature wears her summer vest, 



Thou com'st to weave thy simple nest ; 



And when the chilling winter lowers, 



Again thou seek'st the genial bowers." MOORE. 



Open as my eyes are, and I trust ever will be, to the charms 

 of nature, and every circumstance attending her beautiful 

 economy, I must not omit to mention the graceful and ele- 

 gant manner with which my favorite, the Swallow, touches 

 the surface of the water in her flight : 



"Arguta lacus circum volitavit hirundo." VIRGIL. 



Her motive for doing this I know net ; probably, she some- 

 times sips of the element over which she is flying, or moistens 

 a piece of clay for her nest. Swallows, like swifts, will hawk 

 for flies from three o'clock in the long summer mornings until 

 nine at night, so earnest are they in pursuit of food. Unlike 

 the swift, however, they occasionally stop to rest themselves, 

 and they then sing very prettily. 



I often think how much we should miss the Swallow tribe, 

 if they were no longer to make their appearance in this coun- 

 try. One of the consequences of the late hurricane in some 

 of the West India Islands, was to sweep off the whole of the 

 humming birds : and I can fancy how desolate would be the 

 face of this country should an occurrence of a similar nature 

 deprive us of our friends the Swallows. Moreover, they are 

 of real consequence to us, as the destroyers of myriads of gnats 

 and troublesome insects. They do not confine themselves to 

 districts, but follow insects wherever they are most abundant, 

 thus keeping them within proper bounds, and rendering us a 

 most essential service. I have watched them hawking for 

 flies over some fine meadows where the latter are very abun- 



