By the Rev. A. C. Smith. " 



215 



i breezes and warmth of April roused them from their torpor to 

 [renewed life and activity. These idle tales have long since been 

 exploded, and we all know that the bulk of these birds collect in 

 | enormous numbers in the autumn, migrate in vast flocks, and steer 

 : their course due south, though doubtless a few stragglers are often 

 left behind, perhaps physically incapable of accompanying their 

 I brethren, and these would naturally seek the warmest recesses they 

 1 could find, and there become torpid from cold : while the not 

 \ unusual habit of these birds to seek the vicinity of water, where 

 their winged insect prey chiefly abounds, and to roost amid the 

 reeds on the margins of lakes and ponds, has probably given rise 

 to the wondrous account of their voluntary immersion during 

 winter. As an unanswerable proof that they do not hybernate, I 

 will add that it has been satisfactorily ascertained that they 

 annually moult in February, than which nothing more clear or 

 decisive on the subject can be adduced : moreover, they have been 

 frequently observed on their passage, and there is now no question 

 that they leave us as soon as their young are strong enough on the 

 wing for a prolonged journey, and when the supply of insect food 

 begins to fail : and it is astonishing what an immense number of 

 flies of various kinds a single individual of this family will consume 

 in one day, all of which are caught with great dexterity in the air 

 in the midst of their rapid and buoyant flight ; and thus they rid 

 us of what but for their good offices would be an intolerable plague 

 of flies and gnats. I may well conclude my general account of 

 this family in the words of good old Gilbert White of Selborne, 

 " the Hirundines are a most inoffensive, harmless, entertaining, 

 social and useful tribe of birds ; they touch no fruit in our gardens ; 

 delight (all but one species) in attaching themselves to our houses ; 

 amuse us with their migrations, songs, and marvellous agility ; and 

 clear our outlets from the annoyance of gnats and other troublesome 

 insects." 



"Swallow" (Hirundo rustica). There are two marks by which 

 this species may be readily distinguished from its congeners, viz.: 

 the long deeply-forked tail, and rufous forehead and throat ; the 

 plumage of the bird is a glossy steel blue or purple black : it is 



