BUZZARD'S REST. 35 



Of the innumerable swallows, it is said, with as little 

 show of reason, 



" No rain e'er poured upon the earth 

 That damped the twittering swallow's mirth." 



No ? Well, of late, the whole host takes refuge from 

 storms the barn - swallows in the hay-mow, the cliff- 

 swallows under the eaves, the sand-martins in their bur- 

 rows, and the chimney -swifts in their sooty homes in 

 the chimneys. Why this change of habit ? For a won- 

 derful change must have taken place, if the couplet 

 quoted was ever true. I do admit that swallows and 

 swifts appear to be noisier before and during a shower ; 

 but does not this arise from the fact that at such a time 

 they collect in great numbers near their nests, to take 

 refuge, if the storm should increase in violence ? And 

 again, the silence of other birds makes the twittering 

 swallow a more prominent bird than under other circum- 

 stances; but nothing of this warrants the extravagant 

 assertion that no storm ever put a quietus upon them. 



The larger hawks, too, are supposed to give warning 

 of a coming shower when they utter their peculiar cat- 

 like scream. Among our old people the following may 

 sometimes be heard repeated : 



" The hen-hawk's scream, at hot, high noon, 

 Foretells a coming shower soon." 



This couplet is of some interest, as, at present, it is 

 not applicable to our larger hawks and buzzards. In- 

 deed, the only one of them that is prone to cry out while 

 circling overhead is the red-tailed buzzard or hen-hawk, 



