THE GAPERS. 



IO9 



So often has this statement been repeated, that even Wilson felt himself called upon to confute 

 it. "The Swallow," says that graphic writer, "flies in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in 

 a minute, and he is so engaged for ten hours every day ; his active life is extended on] an average 

 for ten years, which gives us two million one hundred and ninety thousand miles — upwards of eighty- 

 seven times the circumference of the globe. And yet this little winged seraph, if I may so speak, 

 who in a few days can pass from the Arctic regions to the torrid zone, is forced when winter 

 approaches to descend to the bottom of lakes, rivers, and mill-ponds, to bury itself in the mud with 

 eels and snapping turtles, or to creep ingloriously into a cavern, a rat-hole, or a hollow tree, with 

 snakes, toads, and other reptiles, till the return of spring ! Is not this true, ye wise men of Europe 



?ii \ 



THE MARTIN (Chdidon urUca). 



and America, who have published so many credible narratives upon this subject ? The Geese, the 

 Ducks, the Cat-bird, and even the Wren, which creeps about our houses like a mouse, are all declared 

 to be migratory, and to pass to southern regions on the approach of winter. The Swallow alone, 

 on whom Heaven has conferred superior powers of wing, must sink in torpidity to the bottom of 

 some pond to pass the winter in the mud ! " 



We must confine our notice of the True Swallows to the mention of two other species, one 

 remarkable for its size, and the other for the very peculiar formation of its tail. 



THE SENEGAL SWALLOW. 

 The Senegal Swallow (Ceeropis Saiegalensis) is about eight inches long and fifteen broad ; 

 the wing measures five and a half, and the tail about four inches. The plumage of the upper part 



