! 2 8 BARN S WALL W. 



companions of flowery spring and ruddy summer ; and when, 

 after a long, frost-bound, and boisterous winter, we hear it 

 announced, that " the swallows are come," what a train of 

 charming ideas are associated with the simple tidings ! 



house tops or cornices, on railings, or on a bare tree, where the later 

 broods are still fed and exercised by the parents, and the southern jour- 

 ney of the whole mass, as it were, delayed until all had required suffi- 

 cient strength. 



At times, these congregations are much greater than at others, or like 

 some great assemblage from the neighbouring country. One of these 

 took place in 1815 near Rotherham, and has been made the subject of 

 an anonymous pamphlet, by a clergyman in that neighbourhood. The 

 assemblage and departure is thus described in it : — " Early in the 

 month of September 1815, the swallows, that beautiful and social tribe 

 of the feathered race, began to assemble in the neighbourhood of Rother- 

 ham, at the willow ground, on the banks of the canal, preparatory to 

 their migration to a warmer climate ; and their numbers were daily 

 augmented, until they became a vast flock, which no man could easily 

 number. Thousands upon thousands — tens of thousands — and myriads; 

 so great, indeed, that the spectator would almost have concluded, the 

 whole swallow race were there collected in one huge host. 



" It was their manner, while there, to rise from the willows in the 

 morning, a little before six o'clock, when their thick columns literally 

 darkened the sky. Their divisions were then into four, five, and some- 

 times into six grand wings, each of these filing and taking a different 

 route, — one east, another west, another south ; as if not only to be 

 equally dispersed throughout the country, to provide food for their 

 numerous troops, but also to collect with them whatever of their fellows, 

 or straggling parties, might still be left behind. 



" In the evening, about five o'clock, they began to return to their 

 station, and continued coming in from all quarters, until nearly dark. 

 It was here that you might see them go through their various aerial 

 evolutions, in many a sportive ring and airy gambol, strengthening 

 their pinions in these playful feats, for their long ethereal journey, as 

 they cut the air and frolicked in the last beams of the setting sun, or 

 lightly skimmed the surface of the glassy pool. 



" The verdant enamel of summer had given place to the warm and 

 mellow tints of autumn. The leaves were now fast falling from their 

 branches, while the naked tops of many of the trees appeared. The 

 golden sheaves were safely lodged in the barns, and the reapers had 

 shouted their harvest-home. Frosty and misty mornings succeeded, the 

 certain presages of the approach of winter. They were omens under- 

 stood by the swallows, as signals for their march ; and on the morning 



