INSTINCT. 
237 
LETTER LVI. To the Hon. DAINES BARRINGTON. 
They who write on natural history cannot too frequently advert 
to instinct, that wonderful limited faculty, which, in some in- 
stances, raises the brute creation as it were above reason, and in 
others leaves them so far below it. Philosophers have defined 
instinct to be that secret influence by which every species is im- 
pelled naturally to pursue, at all times, the same way or track, 
without any teaching or example ; whereas reason, without in- 
carefully noted their arrival or disappearance, and recorded every fact connected with their 
history. After some years constant observation and reflection, 1 remarked that, among all the 
species of migratory birds, those that remove furthest from us depart sooner than those which 
retire only lo the confines of the United States, and, by a parity of reasoning, those that remaiu 
later return earlier in the spring. These remarks were confirmed as I advanced towards the 
south-west on the approach of winter, for 1 there found numbers of warblers, thrushes, &c., in 
full feather and song. It was also remarked that the hirundo viridis of Wilson remained about 
the city of New Qkrleans later than any other swallow. As immense numbers of them were seen 
during the month of November, I kept a diary of the temperature from the 3rd of that month, 
until the arrival of the hirundo purpurecB- The following notes are taken from my journal ; and, 
as 1 had excellent opportunities during a residence of many years in the country of visiting the 
lakes to which these swallows were said to resort during transient frosts, I present them with 
confidence. 
" Nov. 11th. Weather very sharp, with a heavy white frost. Swallows in abundance during the 
whole daj'. On enquiring of the inhabitants if this was an unusual occurrence, 1 was answered 
in the affirmative by all the French and Spaniards. From this date to the twenty-second the 
thermometer averaged sixty-five degrees, the weather generally a drizzly fog. Swallows pl?iying 
over the city in thousands. 
*♦ Nov. 25th. Thermometer this morning at thirty degrees. Ice in New Orleans a quarter of an 
inch thick. The swallows resorted to the lee of the cypress swamp in the rear of the city. Thou- 
sands were flying in diflverent flocks. Fourteen were killed at a single shot, all in perfect plumage 
and very fat. The markets were abundantly supplied with these tender, juicy, and delicious 
birds. Saw swallows every day, but remarked them more plentiful the stronger the breeze blew 
from the sea. 
** Dec. 20th. The weather continues much the same. Foggy and drizzly mist. Thermometer 
averaging sixty-three degrees 
" Jan. 14th. Thermometer forty-two degrees. Weather continues the same. My little favourites 
constantly in view. 
" Jan. 28th. Thermometer at forty-degrees. Having seen the H. viridis continually, and the 
H. purpurea, or purple martin, beginning to appear, I discontinued my observations. 
" During the whole winter, many of them retired to the holes about the houses, but the greater 
number resorted to the lakes and spent the night among the branches of myrica cerifera, the 
drier, as it is termed by the French settlers. At sunset they Uegan to flock together, calling to 
each other for that purpose, and, in a short time, presented the appearance of clouds moving 
towards the lakes, or the mouth of the Mississippi, as the weather and wind suited. Their aerial 
evolutions before they ali&ht are truly beautiful. They appear at first as if reconnoitering the 
place, when, suddenly throwing themselves into a vortex of apparent confusion, they descend 
spirally with astonishing quickness, and very much resemble a fromfce, or water-spout. When 
within a few feet of the driers, they disperse in all directions, and settle in a few moments. Their 
twittering, and the motions of their wings, are, however, lieard during the whole night. As soon 
as the day begins to dawn, they rise, flying low over the lakes, almost touching the water for 
some time, and then rising gradually move ofl^ in search of fc.od, separating in diff-erent direc- 
tions. The hunters who resort to those places destroy great numbers of them, by knocking them 
down with light paddles used in propelling their canoes."— Ed. 
