SOME CANADIAN BIRDS. 



THE SWALLOWS. 



Swallows are not frequenters of either the fields or the groves, 

 though strangers to neither, but they are typical birds — birds of the 

 air. " It is little more than a drift of the air brought into form by 

 plumes," writes John Ruskin of a typical bird. And again, "The 

 air is in all its quills, it breathes through its whole frame and flesh, 

 and glows with air in flying like a blown flame ; it rests upon the 

 air, subdues it, surpasses it ; is the air, conscious of itself, conquer- 

 ing itself, ruling itself." We find that vivid bit of description in 

 *' Athena." Surely Mr-. Ruskin must have bad a swallow in 

 mind when he wrote it. 



In almost every country swallows of some species help, in their 

 own bountiful way, to make the summer's gladness, and thus these 

 birds have become familiar friends to widely separated races. For 

 whether a man be Frank or Persian, Norseman or Turk, he under- 

 stands the language of the birds and is moved by the glad thoughts 

 they put into their songs. 



Six representatives of this family visit Eastern Canada every 

 summer, but of the six, four only can be correctly classed among 

 the "common" birds, for the purple martin, though widely distri- 

 buted, is nowhere abundant, and the rough-winged swallow has not 

 been found elsewhere than at London, where that keen observer, Mr. 

 William E. Saunders, was fortunate enough to discover a few 

 examples. The other four occur in numbers in all the Provinces, 

 though restricted somewhat to localities. They are gregarious, and 

 build their nests in colonies or "republics," as these have been 

 termed ; and while the birds may be seen at some distance from 

 head-quarters, there is a limit to these wanderings — swift and strong 



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