THE SWALLOWS. 117 



admiratioc upon the beauty of the scene ; suddenly 

 a swift-winged, noiseless phantom sails across our 

 track, and alights upon a tree near by; it is then 

 that we will listen to one of the most singular notea 

 that is heard by night. Even the soft, full-toned, 

 and richly varied song of the Mocking Bird, with 

 which it is often blended, cannot drown the sweetly 

 cadenced voice of this plain and unobtrusive bird, as 

 he sits and "Chucks" and " Ghuck-wills- widow" 

 away, during the live-long night. 



The unmeaning name of Goat-sucker has been ap- 

 plied to various members of this family of birds, the 

 ignorant inhabitants of the countries where they are 

 found supposing that they sucked the milk from 

 their flocks, which is not only improbable, but alto- 

 gether absurd. There are many species found in 

 various parts of the world, some of them being quite 

 large, and some not less noisy. Upon these last has 

 been bestowed the appropriate name of Night Jars. 



Of the myriads of winged visitors which annually 

 flock to our shores from the south, there is perhaps 

 no more interesting and familiar species than the 

 Swallows. With what pleasant and happy recollec- 

 tions is their arrival associated ! Spring, with all its 

 attendant beauty, follows hard in the track of these 

 little aerial voyagers ; and the bright flowers whose 

 half-expanded buds have lain almost concealed be- 

 neath the lingering snows, only await the gentle fan- 

 ning of their wings to open into bloom. 



Every farmer's child, and almost every school-boy 

 in town or country, is at home among the Swallows ; 



