CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 361 
When these birds first arrive in spring, and for a considerable time 
after, they associate together every evening in one general rendez- 
vous ; those of a whole district roosting together. This place of re- 
pose, in the more unsettled parts of the country, is usually a large, 
hollow tree, open at top; trees of that kind, or Swallow trees, as they 
are usually called, having been noticed in various parts of the coun- 
try, and generally believed to be the winter-quarters of these birds, 
where, heaps upon heaps, they dozed away the winter in a state of 
torpidity. Here they have been seen on their resurrection in spring, 
and here they have again been remarked descending to their deathlike 
sleep in autumn. : ; 
Among the various accounts of these trees that might be quoted, 
the following are selected, as bearing the marks of authenticity : — 
“ At Middlebury, in this state,” says Mr. Williams, (History of Ver- 
mont, p.16,) “there was a large, hollow elm, called by the people in 
the vicinity the Swallow tree. From a man who, for several years, 
lived within twenty rods of it, I procured this information. He al- 
ways thought the Swallows tarried in the tree through the winter, and 
avoided cutting it down on that account. About the first of May, the 
Swallows came out of it in large numbers, about the middle of the 
day, and soon returned. As the weather grew warmer, they came out 
in the morning, with a loud noise, or roar, and were soon dispersed. 
About half an hour before sundown, they returned in millions, circu- 
lating two or three times round the tree, and taen descending like a 
stream into a hole about sixty feet from the gruand. It was customary 
for persons in the vicinity to visit this tree, to observe the motions of 
these, bitds : and when any person disturbed their operations, by strik- 
ing violently against the tree with their axes, the Swallows would 
rush out in millions, and with a great noise. In November, 1791, the 
top of this tree was blown down twenty feet below where the Swal- 
lows entered: there has been no appearance of the Swallows since. 
Upon cutting down the remainder, an immense quantity of excrements, 
quills, and feathers, were found, but no appearance or relics of any nests. 
“ Another of these Swallow trees was at Bridport. The man who 
lived the nearest to it gave this account: The Swallows were first ob- 
served to come out of the tree in the spring, about the time that the 
leaves first began to appear on the trees ; from that season they came 
out in the morning about half an hour after sunrise. They rushed out 
like a stream, as big as the hole in the tree would admit, and ascended 
in a perpendicular line, until they were above the height of the adja- 
cent trees; then assumed a circular motion, performing their evolu- 
lutions two or three times, but always in a larger circle, and then 
dispersed in every direction. A little before sundown, they returned 
in immense numbers, forming several circular motions, and then de- 
scended like a stream into the hole, from whence they came out in the 
morning. About the middle of September, they were seen entering 
the tree for the last time. “ These birds were all of the species called 
the House, or Chimney Swallow. The tree was a large, hollow elm; 
the hole at which they entered was about forty feet above the ground, 
and about nine inches in diameter. The Swallows made their first 
appearance in the spring, and their last appearance in the fall, in the 
vicinity of this wees and the neighboring inhabitants had no doubt 
