THE SWALLOW. 83 



the assembling of these wonderful birds, flitting 

 over our heads in airy circles and countless num- 

 bers. The migration of the swallow seems to 

 have been noticedin almost all ages and countries. 

 It is alluded to by the prophet Jeremiah : " the 

 turtle and the crane and the swallow, observe 

 the time of their coming." The poets of Greece 

 and Rome have celebrated the arrival of this so- 

 cial bird in melodious strains, blending with its 

 natural history many an imaginary circumstance 

 and fanciful legend. The purity of its ap- 

 pearance, its graceful and rapid flight, its con- 

 tinuing long on the wing, and never resting on 

 earth, has invested it with a character which 

 speaks to the reflecting mind of a purer world ; 

 and renders it a fit emblem of the life of a Chris- 

 tian not chained to earth, though seeking on its 

 surface the daily supply of daily wants. 



We have spoken of its departure, which fore- 

 tells approaching glooms and stormy skies ; but 

 the time of its re-appearance is a season of joy 

 and rejoicing. When the trees are unfolding 

 their leaves, and the endless profusion of wild- 

 flowers begins again to gladden our eyes in the 

 woods and fields, then do we look out for the swal- 

 low ; especially from about the eighth or tenth of 

 April, to the fourteenth or sixteenth, we are 

 making enquiry after the expected visitant. If we 



