THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW, OR AMERICAN SWIFT. 167 



my astonishment to see it standing as firm as ever. The Swallows were now 

 pouring out in a black continued stream. I ran back to my post, and listen- 

 ed in amazement to the noise within, which I could compare to nothing else 

 than the sound of a large wheel revolving under a powerful stream. It was 

 yet dusky, so that I could hardly see the hour on my watch, but I estimated 

 the time which they took in getting out at more than thirty minutes. After 

 their departure, no noise was heard within, and they dispersed in every di- 

 rection with the quickness of thought. 



I immediately formed the project of examining the interior of the tree, 

 which, as my kind friend, Major Croghan, had told me, proved the most 

 remarkable I had ever met with. This I did, in company with a hunting 

 associate. We went provided with a strong line and a rope, the first of 

 which we, after several trials, succeeded in throwing across the broken 

 branch. Fastening the rope to the line we drew it up, and pulled it over 

 until it reached the ground again. Provided with the longest cane we could 

 find, I mounted the tree by the rope, without accident, and at length seated 

 myself at ease on the broken branch; but my labour was fruitless, for I could 

 see nothing through the hole, rnd the cane, which was about fifteen feet long, 

 touched nothing on the sides of the tree within that could give any informa- 

 tion. I came down fatigued and disappointed. 



The next day I hired a man, who cut a hole at the base of the tree. The 



shell was only eight or nine inches thick, and the axe soon brought the inside 



to view, disclosing a matted mass of exuviae, with rotten feathers reduced to 



a kind of mould, in which, however, I could perceive fragments of insects 



and quills. I had a passage cleared, or rather bored through this mass, for 



nearly six feet. This operation took up a good deal of time, and knowing 



by experience that if the birds should notice the hole below, they would 



abandon the tree, I had it carefully closed. The Swallows came as usual 



that night, and I did not disturb them for several days. At last, provided 



with a dark lantern, I went with my companion about nine in the evening, 



determined to have a full view of the interior of the tree. The hole was 



opened with caution. I scrambled up the sides of the mass of exuvise, and 



my friend followed. All was perfectly silent. Slowly and gradually I 



brought the light of the lantern to bear on the sides of the hole above us, 



when we saw the Swallows clinging side by side, covering the whole surface 



of the excavation. In no instance did I see one above another. Satisfied 



with the sight, I closed the lantern. We then caught and killed with as 



much care as possible more than a hundred, stowing them away in our 



pockets and bosoms, and slid down into the open air. We observed that, 



while on this visit, not a bird had dropped its dung upon us* Closing the 



entrance, we marched towards Louisville perfectly elated. On examining 



