HYBERNATION OF BIRDS. 131 



vanguard, appear. From among these, if the 

 weather be open, a few urge their way from 

 milder latitudes northwards-, and occasionally 

 visit us, or are drifted by the wind to our 

 shores. Should the cold suddenly set in, they 

 wing their way southwards again, and await 

 their proper time ; some perhaps perish. So 

 also with the clouds of swallows that leave us 

 in autumn, (end of September,) a few stragglers 

 linger behind, as if to bring up the rear. 

 These are the young of the last brood ; and 

 many, as we have seen, remain with us till the 

 middle of October, some few linger till the 

 commencement of November, and perhaps a 

 still fewer number till the beginning of De- 

 cember. If, by reason of their unfitness for 

 a protracted flight, a few linger till the cold 

 of winter surprises them, they creep into 

 some shelter, (perhaps their old nest,) become 

 benumbed, starved for want of food, and 

 perish. 



Other migratory birds, it has been asserted, 

 sometimes hybernate. Bewick says, " A few 

 years ago a young cuckoo was found in the 

 thickest part of a close whin-bush. When 

 taken up it presently discovered signs of life, 

 but was quite destitute of feathers. Being 

 kept warm, and carefully fed, it grew and re- 

 covered its coat of feathers. In the spring 

 following it made its escape, and in flying 

 across the Tyne it gave its usual call." If there 

 be any truth at all (which we greatly doubt) 

 in this unauthenticated story ; how can. it be 



