THE MARTIN. 59 



Peculiar habits Observations. 



swallows. They are the least agile of all the 

 British hirundines ; their wings and tails are 

 short, and therefore they are not capable of those 

 surprising turns, and quick and glancing evo- 

 lutions, that are so observable in the house swal- 

 lows. 



Their motion is placid and easy : generally ia 

 the middle region of the air ; for they seldom 

 mount to any great height, and never sweep long 

 together over the surface of the ground or water. 

 They do not wander far in quest of food ; but are 

 fond of sheltered places near some lake, or un- 

 der some hanging wood or hollow vale^ especially 

 jn windy weather. 



As the summer declines, the flocks increase in 

 number every day from the accession of the se- 

 cond broods ; till at length, round the villages on 

 the Thames, they swarm in myriads, darkening 

 even the face of the sky as they frequent the aits 

 of that river, where they roost. The bulk of 

 them retire, in vast companies, about the begin- 

 ning of October ; but some have been known to 

 remain so late as till the sixth of November : 

 they are the latest of all the species in withdraw- 

 ing. It would seem that either these are very 

 short-lived birds, or that they undergo vast de- 

 struction in itheir absence, or do not return to 

 the districts where they were bred ; for the num- 

 bers that appear in the spring, bear no propor- 

 tion to those that retired in the preceding year. 

 H 2 



