GOATSUCKER. SWALLOW. Ill 



siderable variation, on which a writer, describing the lakes 

 of Cumberland, commences a sonnet observant of its change : 

 " The night-hawk is singing his frog-like tune." 



Not only in our own country have these birds been rendered 

 mysterious, but even in Africa and Australia they are invested 

 with preternatural attributes. In the last country the colo- 

 nists have named one the devil-bird, from its horribly gro- 

 tesque appearance and cry. 



In the western hemisphere the most remarkable of the 

 many strange species of that land are the " whip-poor-will," 

 and " chuck- will's -widow," both of which nearly resemble 

 our own species in size and colour. 



Habitat Southern Europe. 



FAMILY XXII. HIRUNDINJE. 



GENUS LVI. HIRUNDO (SWALLOW). 



SPECIES 108 THE COMMON SWALLOW. 



Hirundo rustica. Linn. 

 Hirondelle de cheminee. Temm. 



THIS sweet harbinger of summer has from the earliest ages 

 been protected by man ; and, unlike the generality of birds, 

 who nidify and rear their broods in inaccessible situations, 

 remote from man, the swallow banishes all fear, and, reposing 

 confidence in him, becomes a familiar attendant in all situa- 

 tions. The kraal of the Hottentot, the hut of the Esquimaux, 

 the minarets of Cairo, and the peasant's cot of our own island, 

 receive in turn the visits of the summer-loving swallow. 



Its migrations have been remarked at an early era, and 

 are mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testa- 

 ment. It was also attentively observed by many of the half 

 barbarous nations of antiquity ; its habits and migrations 

 noted ; and speculations entertained, by its early coming, on 

 the value and products of the ripening harvest. 



On the authority of Edwards, it was a great favourite with 

 the Greeks, particularly at Rhodes, where a festival was kept 

 called u %\i^6via," which was a holiday for the Greek boys, 

 who carried about young swallows, and sung a song pre- 

 served in the works of Meursius, which has been thus rendered 

 in English : 



" He comes ! he comes ! who loves to hear 

 Soft sunny hours, and seasons fair : 

 The swallow hither comes to rest 

 His sable wing and snowy breast." 



