[ 28 4 ] 



teen out of twenty, when they fpeak of a fwaHow, 

 really mean a martin *. 



I only take notice of this fuppofed inacuracy in 

 Monf. de Buffon, becaufe, if that able naturalift dees 

 not fpeak of the different forts of fwallows with that 

 precifion which is neceffary upon fuch an occafion, 

 why fhould he rely fo intirely upon the impofTibility 

 of Monf. Adanfon's being miftaken ? 



I fhall now ftate the experiment of Monf. de 

 Buffon, to prove that the fwallow is not torpid in the 

 winter, and mull therefore migrate to the coaft of 

 Senegal -f*. 



He fhut up fome fwallows (birondelles) in an ice 

 houfe, which were there confined 6C plus ou moins 

 " de temps ;" and the confequence was, that thofe 

 which remained there the longeft died, nor could 

 they be revived by expoflng them to the fun j and, 

 that thofe " qui n'avoient fouffert le froid de la 

 " glaciere que pendant peu de terns'* were very 

 lively when permitted to make their efcape, 



* In the fame manner the generi'cal name in other languages, 

 for this tribe of birds, always means the. martin, and not thie 

 fwallow. 



Thus Anacreon eomplains of the ^tAiJwv for waking hira 

 by its twittering. 



Now if it be confidered that there was only the kitchen chim- 

 ney in a Grecian houfe, it muft have been the martin which 

 huilt under the eaves of the window, that was troublefome t? 

 Anacreon, and not the fwallow. 



Ovid alfo fpeaking of the neft of the hirundo^ fays,. 



■ ' ■ luteum fub trabe figit opus. 



%y which he neceffarily alludes to the martin, and not the 

 fwallow* 

 t Plan de 1'ouvrage, p* i£. 



MonC 



