BARN SWALLOW. 
39 
swallows are come,” what a train of charming' ideas 
^^'^otiatcd with the simple tidings ! 
The wonderful activity displayed by these birds forms 
striking contrast to the slow habits of most other 
animals. It may be fairly questioned, whether, among 
>e tvhole feathered tribes which heaven has formed to 
S-t orn this part of criaition, there be any that, in the 
space of time, pass over an equal extent of surface 
^•Ih the swallow. Let a person take his stand on a 
t'e Slimmer evening by a new mown field, meadow, or 
It er shore, for a short time, and among tlie numerous 
Rdividuals of this tribe that flit before him, fix his 
particular one, and follow, for a while, all 
* '''’■cuitous labyrinths — its extensive sweeps — its 
sudden, rapidly reiterated zig-zag excursions, little 
utenor to the lightuiiift itself, and then attempt, by 
powers of mathematics, to calculate the length of 
he Various lines it describes. Alas ! even his omni- 
potent fluxions would avail him little here, and he 
voiild soon abandon the task in di'spair. Yet, that 
• ome definite conception may be formed of this extent, 
^y. suppose, that this little bird flies, in his usual 
tj^T’ ht the rate of one mile in a minute, which, from 
.® ®'uny experiments 1 have made, I believe to be 
, ' uu the truth ; and that he is so engaged for ten 
ext**^**!*'*'*^^ und further, that this active life is 
• ended to ten years, (many of our small birds being 
C8>*'"\ much longer, even in a state of domesti- 
^he amount of all these, allowing three hundred 
on flays to a year, would give us two million 
eiiA uufl uinety thousand miles ; upwards of 
Yp.* times the circumference of the globe! 
in a f *** j winged seraph, if I may so speak, « ho, 
the nr a- ®‘*'y*’>.und at will, can pass from the borders of 
winter to the torrid zone, is forced, when 
rivers “I’Proaches, to descend to the bottoms of lakes, 
eelc Q ’a ’uill-p(,ii(Is, to bury itself in the mud with 
a **uupping turtles; or to creep ingloriously into 
With 'at-hole, or a hollow tree, there to doze, 
snakes, loads, and other reptiles, until the return 
