164 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



out of their retreat and warming, either with his hands 

 or before a fire, he will see gradually to vivify again and 

 fly. In other countries they retire very often to the 

 caverns under the rocks. As many of these exist 

 between the city of Caen and the sea, on the banks of 

 the Orne, there are found sometimes during the winter 

 piles of swallows suspended in these vaults, like bundles 

 of grapes. We have witnessed the same thing in Italy." 

 How the supposition can be entertained that a hot- 

 blooded and lung-breathing creature like a bird can 

 undergo immersion in water for months, and not be 

 drowned, passes my comprehension. A single experi- 

 ment would at once have demonstrated the absurdity of 

 the theory, and proved that a swallow is no more fitted 

 to live under water than a man. That some swallows 

 have been found during the winter in a dormant condi- 

 tion has often been proved. These are most likely late- 

 hatched birds ; but I think it is very questionable if 

 they ever survive the winter in a torpid state, and when 

 such have been accidentally disturbed and roused into 

 temporary activity, they almost immediately disappear 

 again, and doubtless perish from want of food. In 

 January, 1842, I knew of an instance in which a pair 

 of chimney swallows fluttered out of the thatch of an 

 old barn which was being pulled down. They seemed 

 in great distress, and after flying about the place during 

 that and the following day, nothing more was seen of 

 them. 



The late mild winter seems to have led a few pairs of 

 this species to remain with us to an unusually late 

 period. Five or six were seen skimming about at Sark 

 on the 26th October last, and two or three at Margate 

 at the latter end of December last. All these showed 



