OWLS SWALLOWS. 133 



devour, after the manner of hawks. He believes, he told me, 

 that there were bushels of this kind of substance. 



When brown owls hoot, their throats swell as big as a 

 hen's egg*. I have known an owl of this species live a full 

 year without any water. Perhaps the case may be the same 

 with all birds of prey.* When owis fly, they stretch out 

 their legs behind them, as a balance to their large heavy heads ; 

 for, as most nocturnal birds have large eyes and ears, they 

 must have large heads to contain them. Large eyes, I pre- 

 sume, are necessary to collect every ray of light, and large 

 concave ears to command the smallest degree of sound or 

 noise. 



The hirundmes are a most inoffensive, harmless, entertaining, 

 social, and useful tribe of birds ; they touch no fruit in our 

 gardens ; delight, all except one species, in attaching them- 

 selves to our houses ; amuse us with their migrations, songs, 

 and marvellous agility ; and clear our outlets from the annoy- 

 ances of gnats and other troublesome insects. Some districts 

 in the South Seas, near Guiaquil,f are desolated, it seems, by 

 the infinite swarms of venomous mosquitoes, which fill the 

 air, and render those coasts insupportable. It would be worth 

 inquiring, whether any species of hirundmes is found in these 

 regions. Whoever contemplates the myriads of insects that 

 sport in the sunbeams of a summer evening in this country, 

 will soon be convinced to what a degree our atmosphere would 

 be choked with them were it not for the friendly intercourse 

 of the swallow tribe. J 



* Predatory birds are endowed with the power of existing for a great 

 length of time without food or water. In them, digestion seems to be 

 carried on in a slow manner ; and very different from this function in 

 most other birds, as it is extremely rapid in the smaller species. Vultures 

 after feeding may be seen in one unvaried position, patiently waiting till 

 the work of digestion is completed, and the stimulus of hunger is renewed. 

 If violently disturbed after a full meal, they are quite incapable of flight, 

 until they have disgorged the contents of their stomach. ED. 



f See Ulloa's Travels. 



| The wanton destruction of the swallow tribe is not only an act of 

 great inhumanity, but also very impolitic, and can only be practised by 

 persons who are defective either in the head or heart. The author of the 

 Journal of a Naturalist expresses himself thus feelingly on the subject : 

 " The sportsman's essaying his skill on the swallow race, that skim 

 the dimpled pool,' or harmless glide along the flowery mead, when, if 

 successful, he consigns whole nests of infant broods to famine and to 

 death, is pitiable indeed ! No injury, no meditated crime, was ever 

 imputed to these birds ; they free our dwelling from multitudes of 

 insects; their unsuspicious confidence and familiarity with man merit 



