THE SWALLOW TRIBE. 329 



and primrose, and anemone, and bluebell peep 

 tlirougli the liedges ; and where the cottage 

 chimney, which the swallows have long hannted, 

 rises above the garden plots, gay with polyanthuses 

 and daffodils, and sweet-scented wallflowers. And 

 when, a few days after, when even the last bleak 

 wind of winter has ceased to stir the woods, and 

 the birds, rejoicing in sweet vernal showers, come 

 in great numbers, we hail them with delight, and 

 wonder not that the prophet Jeremiah, while 

 lamenting the faithlessness of God's chosen people, 

 should remind them of the constancy of the migra- 

 tory birds, and say: "The stork in the heavens 

 knoweth her appointed time, and the turtle, and 

 the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of 

 their coming." We wonder not that the people of 

 Greece, ever loving the sunshine, ever alive to the 

 genial influences of nature, held a festival at 

 their arrival; and that children went about the 

 cities and villages in procession, receiving presents 

 at every door, and stopping to chaunt, to the 

 sound of musical instruments, a welcome to the 

 swallow. Well might Sir Humphrey Davy call 

 this bird the joyous prophet of the year, the har- 

 binger of the best season, leaving the green 



