SWALLOWS. 247 



commotion amongst them, and within a few minutes they 

 all took their departure, in a south-east direction, appearing 

 to have entirely cast aside their torpidity, and to be as full 

 of animation as ever. Their flight was at a great height, 

 further than the eye could reach, to which they rose by several 

 circumvolutions ; that is, flying round in large circles, just as 

 Kites and Ravens do when they soar. About half an hour 

 after they had flown off, two of those confined in the room 

 were released. For about half a minute they flew exactly in 

 the contrary direction from their companions, and seemed 

 bewildered ; they then, however, turned about, and darted 

 away with the greatest velocity, in the same direction as 

 the others. The remainder were let out in the course of the 

 day, at intervals, between the hours of eleven and four 

 o'clock, all of which took the same direction as their prede- 

 cessors." 



This is one of the most minute and satisfactory accounts 

 of migration we ever met with ; and although these birds 

 were not, in this case, compelled by immediate hunger (for 

 the stomachs of several found dead were full of the remains 

 of their common food, consisting of small insects, spiders, 

 &c.), there nevertheless can be no doubt that one of their 

 chief reasons for quitting us is want of food ; for in Ceylon, 

 where the species are said to be similar to our own,* and 

 where the climate is such as to allow of a perpetual supply 

 of food, they never quit the island. Why, indeed, they ever 

 should quit those favoured spots, where they can exist in the 

 midst of plenty, without wandering to distant regions, is the 

 most surprising part of their history ; and it is difficult to 

 account for a flight of Swallows departing from the warm 

 climate of the tropics, to pass their short Summers in such 

 remote and uncongenial quarters of the globe as Iceland, in 

 the north, and Port Famine, near Cape Horn, in the south, 

 in both of which inhospitable regions they are found, as well 

 as near the still more cheerless shores of Hudson's Bay, where 

 the supply of food is more particularly precarious, owing to 



* PERCIVAL'S Ceylon. 



