208 
NATURE NOTES 
We English are accustomed to consider ourselves as the 
only nation that can colonise, and to laugh at the attempts of 
others ; but there is one consolation in Germans, French and 
Belgians having a footing in Africa, i.e., they may be trusted to 
plant trees where they are required, and not to utterly destroy 
the primeval forest. There is, therefore, some hope that the 
sources of the Nile are not in too great danger, for no one would 
relish the idea of that grand river diminishing greatly in volume 
and losing itself in the desert, instead of its waters passing on 
by Cairo and discharging into the Mediterranean. 
I ought to say that some of our colonies, and notably South 
Au stralia, are taking much interest in forestry. 
Giles A. Daubeny. 
Tuckton, Christchurch, Hants. 
August 24, 1898. 
A HOSTELRY FOR SWALLOWS. 
EPTEMBER 18, 1898. — In the middle of this month 1 
have generally been away from home, and for several 
years past I have haunted the coast of Dorset at this 
time, observing the migration of swallows and martins 
from west to east. This year it has happened that I have stayed 
in my own county of Oxfordshire, and have been lucky enough 
to witness migration going on for several days, on a scaie almost 
as vast as on the southern coast. It is no doubt a familiar sight 
to those who watch the movements of birds, but few have leisure 
or perseverance to follow it closely ; and what little I have to 
tell may be of interest to the readers of Nature Notes. 
It was at sunset on September 8, the hottest day of the year, 
when the thermometer at Greenwich reached 92° in the shade, 
that I strolled down to the banks of our stream with a friend 
who wished to search for moths in a certain osier bed. While 
he was so engaged, I became aware of an extraordinary gathering 
of swallows over my head. They seemed to be coming in large 
parties from the north and west, all of which were uniting in one 
vast congregation immediately over the osier-bed : as I watched, 
the numbers steadily increased, until the appearance was that of 
a dense swarm of gnats high up in the air over my head. Then 
one large division separated and went off to the south ; the rest 
remained careering at a great height until the sun set, when they 
began gradually to descend, and by twos and threes to drop 
suddenly and swiftly into the cover of the osiers. 
The next day it happened that I had to leave home to spend 
two or three days in Lincolnshire, where 1 found that the 
swallows had almost all departed from inland towns such as 
