crown-imperials, and putting its head into the bells 

 of those flowers, sips the liquor which stands in the 

 nectarium of each petal. Sometimes it feeds on the 

 ground, like the hedge-sparrow% hopping about on 

 the grass-plots and mown walks. 



One of my neighbours, an intelligent and observ- 

 ing man, informs me, that, in the beginning of May, 

 and about ten minutes before eight o'clock in the 

 evening, he discovered a great cluster of house- 

 swallows, thirty at least, he supposes, perching on a 

 willow that hung over James Knight's upper-pond. 

 His attention was first drawn by the twittering of 

 these birds, which sat motionless in a row on the 

 bough, with their heads all one way, and, by their 

 weight, pressing down the twig so that it nearly 

 touched the water. In this situation he watched 

 them till he could see no longer. Repeated accounts 

 of this sort, in spring and fall, induce me greatly to 

 suspect that house-swallows have some strong attach- 

 ment to water, independent of the matter of food ; 

 and, though they may not retire into that element, 

 yet they may conceal themselves in the banks of 

 pools and rivers during the uncomfortable months of 

 winter. 



One of the keepers of Wolmer Forest sent me a 



peregrine-falcon, which he shot on the verge of that 



district, as it was devouring a wood-pigeon. The 



Falco peregrinus, or haggard falcon, is a noble species 



of hawk seldom seen in the southern counties. In 



164 



