45 



It appears that Olaus Magnus^ archbishop of 

 Vpsala, was the first who broached the opinion, 

 that these birds spent the winter under water. 

 This credulous man assures us, that they are fre- 

 quently found clustered together in masses, at the 

 bottom of the northern lakes, and that they creep 

 down the reeds in autumn to their sub-aqueous 

 retreats*. 



Kalm thought that swallows generally migrated 

 from the temperate climates of Europe; but that 

 those found in the more northern regions partook 

 of the wintry torpors of some other polar creatures. 



Klein was decidedly of opinion, that chimney 

 swallows wintered -in the water, and sand martins 

 in their holes in the banks of the rivers, etc.f 



" That the good archbishop" (says Pennant) " did not 

 want credulity in other instances, appears from this, that 

 having stocked the bottoms of the lakes with birds, he stores 

 the clouds with mice, which sometimes fall in plentiful showers 

 on Norway and the neighbouring countries." See Gesner. 

 Icon. An. 100. The immense number of lemmings, mures 

 lemmi, which, at uncertain periods, suddenly make their 

 appearance in various parts of Norway, Sweden, and Lap- 

 land, has, probably, given birth to this strange conjecture. 



t See Klein's Hist. Auium. and Kalm's Voyage. 



