83 THE SWALLOW 



alone it probably found a sheltered retreat in the face of the cliff, 

 and sallied forth whenever the weather was inviting, making the 

 most of the short days, and, on the finest, contenting itself with a 

 scanty meal. The temperature of the west of England in winter 

 it is quite able to bear ; in fact, it is not uncommon there for a 

 whole winter to pass without any weather so severe as that which 

 has characterized the whole of the present April (i860), though 

 Swallows have returned, and contrive to find food enough to keep 

 themselves alive. If, therefore, the bird which I saw managed to 

 live on till Christmas Eve, there is no reason why it should not 

 survive the whole of the winter. But as ' one Swallow does not 

 make a spring ', so neither is one sufficient to upset a theory. There 

 remains, therefore, the rule with the one exception to prove it, that 

 Swallows do migrate. A full account of all that has since been learnt 

 of the Swallow's history will be found in Yarrell's British Birds. 

 For the sake of reference only I will add a short summary of what 

 I may term its statistics. The Swallow is a migratory bird wherever 

 it is found, that is in most of the countries of Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa. The first Swallows arrive in this country about the 

 eleventh of April, and are followed by others at various intervals, 

 until the middle or end of May. On their arrival, they resort to 

 those places which, being most sheltered, abound most in winged 

 insects, these being frequently the courses of rivers and canals. 

 As the season advances, they spread themselves more generally 

 over the country, still, however, being most numerous in the vicinity 

 of water. In May they build their shallow open nests of mud and 

 straw lined with feathers, a few feet down a chimney, in an outhouse, 

 a bell-tower, the shaft of a deserted mine, or any other place which 

 is at once dry and dark, rarely in more exposed places. They lay 

 four or five eggs, and rear two or three broods in a season. The 

 young being, from the usual situation of the nest, unable to leave 

 their nursery until they are fully fledged, require to be fed a long 

 time, but they continue to be, partially at least, dependent on the 

 parent birds for many days after they have learnt to hawk for 

 themselves. The process of feeding is carried on while both old 

 and young are on the wing ; or the young, perched on the top of 

 a house or the branch of a tree, receive in turn the morsels which 

 their more skilful parents have caught for them. In autumn, 

 many days before migration is actually about to take place, Swal- 

 lows, old and young, assemble in large flocks, especially towards 

 evening, and roost on trees in the vincinity of water. At this season 

 they seem to be more socially disposed, even during the day, than 

 at any other period of their sojourn with us. In October they take 

 their departure collectively, and so strongly is the migratory instinct 

 then in force, that it overcomes parental affection, powerful though 

 this feeling is in the Swallow ; some of the late broods being left 

 behind, 



