92 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



also, the males of the common Swallow have a beautiful rufous blush on the under parts, which is 

 very apparent and unmistakable as they turn and twist in the sunlight. In the young birds, in their 

 first autumn plumage, the under parts are whiter and they appear smaller. 





.M.UU'IN. 



THE COMMON SWALLOW (Hinindo nistica).* 



Like the Cuckoo, the arrival of the Swallow is anxiously looked for as a sign of approaching 

 summer, arriving as it does in England about the middle of April, by a gradual migration, which 

 appeal's to pass Spain early in February, Malta early in March, Palestine about the middle of that 

 month, and Italy about the 20th of March; it does not arrive in Scotland before the end of April. The 

 same quarters are occupied year after year probably by the identical birds, if their home of the previous 

 year has been undisturbed. Many experiments have been made with a view to ascertain the truth of 

 the latter assertion, and the following anecdote is mentioned by Buffonf : 



In the year 1779, the winter passed without much snow, and the spring was very fine. The 

 Swallows, however, arrived in Burgundy only by the 9th of April, and on the Lake of Geneva by the 

 14th. It is said that a shoemaker of Basle, having attached to a Swallow's neck a collar on which he 



wrote 



Hirondelle, qui es si belle 

 Dis-moi, 1'hivor ou vas-tu ? 



received the following spring by the same courier the answer 



Athenes, chez Antoine, 



Pourquoi t'en informes-tu ? 



As Buffoii himself remarks, the truth of this little anecdote is somewhat dubious ; and an English 

 reviewer has also doubted the accuracy of this little story, as well he might, seeing that, as far as we know, 

 the Swallow spends the winter, in which it is absent from Europe, at the Cape of Good Hope, where 



* Hirundo (Linn.), a proper name; rustica, an inhabitant of the country. t "Hist. Nat. Ois. 1 ' vi., p. 619. 



