INSESSOKES. 123 



carp had disappeared. The bird was frequently 

 seen there, perched upon the railings of the pond, 

 or flying away from it, scared by our approach ; but 

 when the pond was filled by the rain it disappeared, 

 and was not seen again. There were then only one 

 or two fish left, and I never remember to have seen 

 a Kingfisher in the neighbourhood either before or 

 since." By what curious instinct, then, was this 

 bird led to an isolated pond far from its usual 

 haunts, and at a distance from any stream, where it 

 became aware not only of the sudden appearance of 

 fish, but also of the sufficient shallowness of the 

 pool to enable it to take them ? 



Family HIRUNDINID^E. 



SWALLOW, Hirundo rustica. A regular summer 

 visitant, arriving in April and leaving in October. 

 I once saw a solitary bird here as late as the 

 9th November. Swallows frequently have two, 

 if not three, broods in a year. They roost 

 upon the willows and shrubs that grow along the 

 course of our brooks, and I have often been sur- 

 prised at the great number I have disturbed when 

 walking along a brook late in the evening. It is 

 not unlikely that this propensity to roost among 

 willows and near water has given rise to the 

 popular delusion that Swallows retire under water 

 in winter. 



M 2 



