By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 



217 



commiseration thus evinced by the Swallow "towards the Redeemer, 

 Heaven ordained that blessings and prosperity should ever after- 

 wards attend on those who protected it and its nest :" 1 and from 

 this tradition the honest Norsemen consider it sinful in any way 

 to injure or molest this favoured bird of Heaven. As the autumn 

 draws on and the Swallows begin to prepare for their departure, 

 they may be seen congregated on the roofs of houses in thousands, 

 giving utterance to their soft twittering note, and apparently 

 loathe to leave the house where they have reared their young : but 

 at length when the fitting moment arrives, away goes the vast 

 flock, steering due South, after which scarcely a straggler is to be 

 seen. 



" Martin" (Hirundo urbica). This species is even more familiar 

 to us than the last, for it selects the eaves of our houses and the 

 corners of our windows as fitting situations for its clay-built nest : 

 hence the names by which it is so often designated of " window 

 Swallow," "Hirondelle de fenitre" " iZtfMS-schwalbe." It may be 

 at once distinguished from the last by the pure white of all its 

 under parts, and the shorter forked tail, as well as by its smaller 

 size and more compact shape : it has also a conspicuous patch of 

 white on the back, just above the tail, which stands out in marked 

 contrast with the dark purple hue of all its upper plumage : its 

 legs and feet too are feathered to the toes, in which respect it 

 differs from all its congeners : it hunts on the wing, wheels through 

 the air, flocks before migration, and otherwise comports itself like 

 the preceding, but it does not arrive in this country till a week or 

 two later, probably owing to its lesser powers of wing, and con- 

 sequently inferior speed. The Martin has generally two broods in 

 the summer, but so strong is its instinct to join in the general 

 migration when the fitting period arrives, that it often leaves its 

 young, if hatched late in the year, to perish in the nest, rather 

 than endanger its own safety by delaying its departure after the 

 great body of its species has gone : and this apparently unnatural 

 proceeding is not confined to one or two isolated cases, but is found 

 to be more or less practised every year, and in some seasons to a 

 1 Lloyd's Scandinavian Adventures, vol. ii., p. 355. 



