96 REMARKS ON THE 
It is particularly deserving of remark that the 
early death which invariably terminates the sufferings 
of those devoted nestlings that are abandoned by 
their parents, powerfully militates against the opinion 
that many of our Summer Birds of Passage, especi- 
ally the Swallows, are capable of passing the winter 
season in a state of torpidity; for, if this belief in 
the lability of the European Hirundines to become 
torpid in autumn be well-founded, how does it 
happen that late-hatched broods of Swallows, House- 
Martins, and Sand-Martins, when deserted, uniformly 
perish, even under circumstances which are repre- 
sented as rendering individuals of their species, too 
young or feeble to undergo the fatigues of migra- 
tion, merely dormant? The advocates of torpidity 
will do well to consider this difficulty with atten- 
tion ; since, if not removed, it leaves them no alterna- 
tive but to renounce as untenable the doctrine they 
maintain. 
Stnce the foregoing observations were made on the 
occasional desertion of their last-hatched broods by 
several species of British Hirundines, a favourable 
opportunity of pursuing the investigation has again 
presented itself. 
On the departure of the House-Martins, in Octo- 
ber 1826, it was perceived that they left some broods 
to perish in the nests built under the eaves of a 
