24 



as I have before had occasion to observe, they have 

 sometimes been taken out of the water, in winter, 

 in a torpid state, not only out of rivers, but also out 

 of lakes and stagnant pools, and even out of bogs *. 

 They have likewise been found concealed in the 

 crevices of rocks, in holes of old decayed trees, in 

 old ruined towers, and under the thatch of houses t- 

 From the consideration of the above facts alone, 

 without making any farther inquiry into the subject, 

 have many persons concluded that the whole tribe 

 always winter in similar situations. It seems, how- 

 ever, much more probable that those birds, which 

 may have been found in a state of torpidity, as 

 above described, had, owing to some accident, been 



* For further particulars relative to the torpidity of swal- 

 lows, see Miscellanies by the Hon. Daines Harrington, page 

 225 and sequel ; also Bufon. Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux, 4to, 

 Paris, 1780, Plan d'Oworage^ p. xiii. 



t A great many sand martins' holes have been opened in 

 winter, and nothing has been found in them but old nests. 

 See Phil Trans, vol. li. p. 463. 



In October, 1810, 1 opened several sand martins' holes near 

 Dorking in Surry, and found in one of them a variety of very 

 small bony substances, which might be part of large insects, 

 mixed with dirt. 



