SWALLOW TRIBE. 91 
sometimes the case with House-Martins when de- 
serted by their mates, yet the conduct of the male, if 
it does not absolutely establish the fact that Swifts 
occasionally abandon their offspring to destruction, 
certainly affords strong presumptive evidence in its 
favour. 
The frequent desertion of their last-hatched 
broods by the Swallow, House-Martin, and Sand- 
Martin, which is too well authenticated to admit of a 
doubt, must appear surprising to every one; but 
particularly so to those who are aware how highly the 
parental feelings of the feathered tribes are excited 
during the breeding-season. Few people are ignorant 
of the care and attention bestowed upon their 
offspring by our Domestic Fowls; and that the 
winged inhabitants of the fields and woods are, in 
their wild state, no less attached to their progeny 
than the reclaimed inmates of the poultry-yard, may 
be inferred from the following examples. 
Early in August, 1825, a neighbour took a young 
Cuckoo out of a Titlark’s nest, and, carrying it home 
with him, put it mto a cage, which he hung in a 
pear-tree in his garden. The foster-parents, speedily 
discovering where their nursling was confined, not- 
withstanding the distance of the place from its former 
abode could not be less than three quarters of a mile, 
proceeded, with every demonstration of delight, to 
supply its immediate wants, and continued to provide 
it with food till it was unfortunately killed by a cat, 
