CHIMNEY SWALLO W. 
238 
account. About the first of May the Shallows came out of it in large 
numbers, about the middle of the day, and soon returned. As the 
weather grew warmer they came out in the morning with a loud noise, 
or roar, and were soon dispersed. About half an hour before sundown 
they returned in millions, circulating two or three times round the tree, 
and then descending like a stream into a hole about sixty feet from the 
ground. It was customary for persons in the vicinity to visit this tree 
to observe the motions of these birds : and when any persons disturbed 
their operations by striking violently against the tree with their axes, 
the Swallows would rush out in millions and with a great noise. In 
November, 1791, the top of this tree was blown down twenty feet below 
where the Swallows entered. There has been no appearance of the 
Swallows since. Upon cutting down the remainder an immense quan- 
tity of excrements, quills and feathers, were found, but no appearance 
or relics of any nests. 
" Another of these Swallow trees was at Bridport. The man who 
lived the nearest to it gave this account. The Swallows were first 
observed to come out of the tree in the spring about the time that the 
leaves first began to appear on the trees ; from that season they came 
out in the morning about half an hour after sunrise. They rushed out 
like a stream, as big as the hole in the tree would admit, and ascended 
in a perpendicular line until they were above the height of the adjacent 
trees ; then assumed a circular motion, performing their evolutions two 
or three times, but always in a larger circle, and then dispersed in 
every direction. A little before sundown they returned in immense 
numbers, forming several circular motions, and then descended like a 
stream into the hole, from whence they came out in the morning. 
About the middle of September they were seen entering the tree for the 
last time. These birds were all of the species called the House or 
Chimney Swallow. The tree was a large hollow elm ; the hole at which 
they entered was about forty feet above the ground, and about nine 
inches in diameter. The Swallows made their first appearance in the 
spring and their last appearance in the fall in the vicinity of this tree ; 
and the neighboring inhabitants had no doubt but that the Swallows 
continued in it during the winter. A few years ago a hole was cut at 
the bottom of the tree ; from that time the Swallows have been gradually 
forsaking the tree and have now almost deserted it." 
Though Mr. Williams himself, as he informs us, is led to believe from 
these and some other particulars which he details, " that the House 
Swallow in this part of America generally resides during the winter in 
the hollow of trees ; and the Ground Swallows [Bank Swallows] find 
security in the mud at the bottom of lakes, rivers, and ponds," yet I 
cannot in the cases just cited see any sufficient cause for such a belief. 
The birds were seen to pass out on the first of May or in the spring 
