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is disagreeably true ; but, nevertheless, the first Tvelcome sight of the sweet bird, its 

 shining plumage illumined by the fitful sunbeams of a chilly April day, conduces to the 

 hope that soon the bitter east wind will liaA'e blown itself out, and that Xature must 

 speedily array herself in that joyous verdant attire which makes the warm English May- 

 day so inexpressibly lovely. To the resident in Ceylon the Swallow brings no such 

 pleasant prospect ; it arrives in the midst of the wind and rain with which the south- 

 west monsoon dies out, and foretells nothing but the usual dry Christmas weather of this 

 part of the tropics. Yet its presence on the Galle Face at Colombo, as it skims along 

 just above the turf on a bright though windy morning, or sits in rows of a dozen or 

 more twittering its winter notes on the telegraph-wires at noon, is not without a charm, 

 and reminds one of the home that has been left behind far beyond the western horizon. 

 The time and place, however, in which to see the Swallow to perfection is Avhcn it is 

 careering over a beautiful English lawn on a bright June morning, sweeping round the 

 handsome conifers and beneath the spreading oaks ; or when, glancing out of some rustic 

 barn, it darts like a polished arrow down the tiny brook or round the village green in 

 search of a mouthful for the little brood so snugly housed against yonder beam. In 

 Ceylon we miss the pretty little chattering song of the male in the breeding- season, 

 although it does commence it before leaving in March. Scores of these birds may be 

 seen perched on the telegraph-wire crossing the ' Lotus-pond ' at Colombo, a spot 

 which furnishes a never-failing supply of insects ; and they may frequently, as in other 

 coimtries, be observed seated on roofs or on some little eminence on the ground. As is 

 the case in England, before leaving the island they collect in flocks, but in much fewer 

 numbers, as there are no young birds to congregate together. Few birds enjoy such an 

 immu.uity from persecution as the Swallow ; it is rarely shot except by those who are 

 really in want of skins for scientific purposes." 



Colonel Legge, who is now living in Tasmania, from the words of his last sentence, 

 evidently does not know of the cruel and senseless war which has been waged of recent 

 years against the ixnfortunate Swallows, for millinery purposes and the decoration of 

 ladies' hats, in Europe. Luckily the tide of public opinion has turned against those 

 thoughtless persons who caused the death of these innocent and useful insect-eating birds, 

 and the Swallow is now more free from persecution. The reason of the protection of the 

 Swallow in most countries is doubtless due not only to its confiding disposition, l)ut also 

 to the vast amount of good which the bird does. " In Morocco," ]\I. Favicr says, '• tlie 

 Moors believe that it oifcnds God to kill these birds, in the same A\ay as they believe it 

 pleases or soothes tlie Evil One to kill the Haven {Corcus comx). The stories on which 

 this superstition is founded arc too long to relate; but I was informed l)y one person 

 that the Swallows and AVliit(> Storks were inspired hy Allah lo protecl the liar\esi and 

 the country from noxious insects and reptiles, aiul that the birds iheniselves (knowing 

 the benefits they confer on man) ask in return protection for Iheir ollsi)ring ])y Ijnildini;- 

 their nests on the walls of towns and houses, and that therefore any one who kills (hem 

 must be a Kaffir, i. c, not a true believer of the Prophet, especially as the birds would 

 only be killed for miscliicf, being useless when dead." 



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