OF SELBORNE. 249 



ledge, we were surprised to see three house- 



SM'allows gliding very swiftly by us. That 



morning was rather chilly, with the wind 



at north-west ; but the tenor of the weather 



for some time before had been delicate, and 



the noons remarkably w^arm. From this 



incident, and from repeated accounts which 



I meet with, I am more and more induced 



to believe that many of the swallow kind 



do not depart from this island ; but lay 



themselves up in holes and caverns ; and 



do, insect-like and bat-like, come forth at 



mild times, and then retire again to their 



latebrce. Nor make I the least doubt but 



that, if I lived at Newhaven, Seaford, 



Brighthelmstone, or any of those towns near 



the chalk-cliffs of the Sussex coast, by 



proper observations, I should see swallows 



stirring at periods of the Winter, when the 



noons were soft and inviting, and the sun 



warm and invigorating. And I am the 



more of this opinion from what I have 



remarked during some of our late Springs, 



that though some swallows did inake their 



appearance about the usual time, viz. the 



