480 THE PHILOSOPHY 



foon after the houfe-fwallow, and difap'pear about Michael- 

 rpas. They dig confiderable holes in fand-pits and in the 

 banks of rivers, where they build their nefts, which confift 

 not of mud, like thofe of the former fpecies, but of grafles 

 and feathers laid together in a very flovenly manner. It is 

 worthy of remark, that thefe birds do not employ the cavi- 

 ties they dig in fummer for winter- quarters ; fmce fand- 

 banks, fo perforated, have been carefully fearched in the 

 winter, and nothing was found but empty nefls*. 4. The 

 fwift, or black martin of Willoughby, is the largeft of our 

 fwallows, and is the lateft of arriving in this country ; for 

 the fwifts are feldom feen till the beginning of May, and 

 commonly appear, not in flocks, but in pairs. Swifts, hke 

 the fand-martins, carry on the bufinefs of incubation in the 

 dark. They build in the cranies of caftles, towers, and ftee- 

 ples. Straw and feathers are the materials they ufe. They 

 difappear very early ; for they are almoft never feen after 

 the middle of Auguft. 5. The goatfucker, which belongs 

 to the fwallow tribe, is likewifq a bird of palTage. Like the 

 other fwallows, it feeds upon winged infecSlg. But, inftead 

 of purfuing its prey during the day, it flies only in the night, 

 and feizes moths, and other nofturnal infects. From this 

 circumfl:ance, it has not improperly received the appellation 

 of the nocliinial fivalloiv. The goat-fucker fbays only a fhort 

 time in Britain. It appears not till about the end of May, and 

 retires in the middle of Augufl. It lays its eggs, which arc 

 commonly two, and fometimes three, on the bare ground. 



To give catalogues of the numerous birds of pafTage which 

 frequent this ifland, as well as other countries, and to mark 

 the times of their arrival and departure, would be deviating 

 entirely from our plan. For clrcumftances of this kind, thp 

 curious may confult Catefby, Klein, Linnaei Amoenitates 

 •Academicae, White, Sec. But, as the periodical appearanc*? 

 * White's Natural Hillory of Sclborne, page 177. 



