258 THE SWALLOW. 



his fondness for these harbingers of spring. Who is not ac- 

 quainted with his beautiful ode, in which he reproaches the 

 Swallow for disturbing his repose : or the beautiful translation 

 of it by the bard of Ireland ? 



" Silly swallow ! prating thing, 

 Shall I clip that wheeling wing ; 

 Or, as Tereus did of old, 

 (So the fabled tale is told,) 

 Shall I tear that tongue away 

 Tongue that uttered such a lay !" 



So little was known of the emigration of the Swallow fifty 

 years ago, that Dr. Johnson in one of his conversations with 

 Boswell, makes the following observation. " Swallows cer- 

 tainly sleep all the winter. A number of them conglobulate 

 together, by flying round and round, and then all in a heap 

 throw themselves under water, and lie in the bed of a river." 

 This idea is still prevalent amongst many persons who 

 reside on the banks of the Thames. They see Swallows 

 settling and roosting by hundreds and thousands on the wil- 

 lows growing on the aytes of the river, which are bent down 

 to the edge of the water by the weight of the birds, and the 

 next day, perhaps, not one is to be seen. It is therefore con- 

 cluded, that they have immersed themselves. It is a common 

 trick amongst the Thames fishermen in this neighborhood to 

 send a new-comer late in the evening, with the offer of some 

 small reward, to an ayte which is covered with Swallows, one 

 of which he is to catch with his hand. I am assured that 

 such is the vigilance and activity of these birds, that however 

 dark the night, and however great the ' caution used, no one 

 instance has occurred of a bird being taken in the manner I 

 have mentioned. 



It is an interesting . sight to watch the young chimney 

 Swallows after they have quitted their nest, sitting quietly on 

 the top of a chimney and receiving, one after another, the 

 food brought to them by the parent bird. During the period 

 of incubation, the male shews the greatest affection for, and 

 attention to, his mate, and serenades her from the chimney 

 top as soon as the first gleam of light appears. 



