RETURN OF THE SWALLOWS. 
31 
swiftness, and as if driven by an irresistible force. Even those birds 
whicli have spent their lives in the luxurious captivity of a cage" are 
obviously excited and much moved at the epoch of the annual migra- 
tions. Some species leave early, some late in the season; but all at 
fixed dates. The last to leave are the first to return. Those which 
first desert us are generally the last to come back. The black maitin 
leaves, for example, at the beginning of August, and does not return 
until the month of May ; while those late-lingering emigrants who do 
not disappear until November, return to us in February. 
It is surprising what long distances are covered by the bii'ds in 
these migi'ations. Many of our English favourites winter in the south 
of Europe ; a still larger number sojourn temporaril}^ in Algeria and 
the north of Africa generally, from 37° to 24° N. lat. Others penetrate 
as far as the Tropics, and may be seen in winter on the coasts of the 
Atlantic and the shores of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. India and 
its islands, Burmah, Siam, and the south of China, form also a great 
winter-station. 
The birds of North America I'esort to the Southern States and 
Central America. 
Audubon gives an interesting account of the return of the barn- 
swallows after their winter absence. They make their appearance at 
New Orleans fi'om the middle of February to the 1st of March, arriv- 
ing in pairs, or a few together, and betaking themselves immediately 
to the places where they bred, or wei'e reared, the year before. Their 
northward progress depends greatly on tlie state of the weather ; and 
a difference of a month may be observed in their arrival at different 
places, when the temperature is low. Thus, in Kentucky, Virginia, or 
Pennsylvania, they sometimes do not arrive until mid-April or the 
beginning of May. 
It is summer-time, and the swallow rejoices in the happiness 
which all nature feels. How pure and fresh is the air ! how warm 
and exhilarating the sunshine ! The little birds come forth from their 
leaf-shaded coverts, and fill the echoes with sweet sounds. What a 
happy world is theirs ! Here a smart fellow roguishly challenges his 
