28 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



in pulling down the battlements of a church tower early in 

 the spring, found two or three swifts (Hirundines apodes) 

 among the rubbish, which were, at first appearance, dead, 

 but on being carried towards the fire, revived. He told me, 

 that out of his great care to preserve them, he put them in 

 a paper bag, and hung them by the kitchen fire, where they 

 were sufi'ocated. 



Another intelligent person has informed me, that while 

 he was a schoolboy at Brighthelmstone, in Sussex, a great 

 fragment of the chalk cliff fell down one stormy winter on 

 the beach, and that many people found swallows among the 

 rubbish ; but on my questioning him whether he saw any of 

 those birds himself, to my no small disappointment, he 

 answered me in the negative : but that others assured him 

 they did. 



Young broods of swallows began to appear this year on 

 July 11th, and young martins (^Hirundines urbicce) were 

 then fledged in their nests. Both species will breed again 

 once. For I see by my fauna of last year, that young 

 broods came forth so late as September 18th. Are not 

 these late hatchings more in favour of hiding than migra- 

 tion ? Nay, some young martins remained in their nests 

 last year so late as September 29th ; and yet they totally 

 disappeared with us by the 5th October. 



How strange it is that the swift, which seems to live 

 exactly the same life» with the swallow and house-martin, 

 should leave us before the middle of August invariably ! 

 while the latter stay often till the middle of October ; and 

 once I saw numbers of house-martins on the 7th November. 

 The martins and red-wing fieldfares were flying in sight 

 together, an uncommon assemblage of summer and winter 

 birds ! 



A little yellow bird (it is either a species of the alauda 



