SWALLOW. 



79 



lat@ as the 5th November, 1805*; and Forster 

 says he has frequently [seen them after the 19th 

 October : and that they have been taken in a tor- 

 pid state during the winter there can be no doubt, 

 from the many eminent naturalists that have as- 

 serted the fact. 



But that the greatest number of each species 

 migrate is so well established by a multitude of 

 observers, that there does not appear to be any 

 reason to doubt the fact, especially when it is 

 considered that they are generally eighteen or 

 twenty hours on the wing daily, during their stay 

 in this country; and that they fly with greater 

 celerity than the swiftest quadruped can run. 

 We have an instance on record of a famous race- 

 horse, that went at the surprising velocity of a 

 mile in a minute, but only for the space of one 

 second ; but allowing the Swallow to go merely 

 at the rate of half a mile in the minute, for the 

 space of eighteen or twenty hours, it will have 

 gone over in that time between five and six hun- 

 dred miles, so that it would be able to cross any 

 part of the sea between this island and the conti- 

 nent; a circumstance that has been doubted by 

 many. The fact of their appearing in several parts 

 of Africa (particularly at Senegal, as noticed by 

 Adanson), when they disappear in Europe, and 

 vice versa, tends to give additional plausibility to 

 the theory of migration. 



* I found a Swallow {Hirundo rustica), at Hertford on the 

 27th December, 18)4, which, to all appearance, had not been 

 dead any great length of time, as it had not contracted any bad 

 smell, and in other respects was in good condition. 



