HIRUNDO. 
tions of these birds actually take place. 
They have frequently been seen by mariners 
at a vast distance from land, and in very 
numerous flocks, and have occasionally con- 
verted the rigging and yards of vessels into 
resting places, which have most conveniently 
relieved their long and wearisome flight. 
Mr. Pearson of London, after one unsuc- 
cessful experiment, was enabled to pre- 
serve swallows throughout the winter, taking 
extreme care to guard their feet from damp 
and cold. They were in good health, sang 
with vivacity, and accomplished the pro- 
cess of moulting soon after Christmas, with- 
out any particular inconvenience, and for 
three successive years exhibited the same 
vigour, health, and animation. From this 
experiment it might be presumed, that 
swallows experience no particular deviation 
in constitution and propensities from other 
birds, and quit this country towards winter 
for one where they may enjoy a milder cli- 
mate, and more plentiful food. They are 
to be met with in every country of the 
world, and in all, or nearly so, are found to 
be migratory. There are thirty-seven spe- 
cies, of which we shall notice the following. 
H. rustica, or the house-swallow, appears 
in March in this country, and leaves it in 
September. It generally builds in chim- 
neys, or under the eaves of houses, and will 
return, unless interrupted, to its original 
haunt for a number of years. For three 
years in succession a pair of swallows built 
on the frame of an old picture in Camerton 
Hall, near Bath, having access to the apart- 
ment through a broken pane in the win- 
dow. These birds breed twice a year. 
They are easily rendered familiar; and it 
has been calculated, from what occurred in 
a curious and extraordinary instance of the 
domestication of one of them, in the family 
of a gentleman in Northumberland, that a 
single swallow will devour from seven hun- 
dred to a thousand flies in one day. See 
Aves, Plate VIII. fig. 2. 
H. urbica, or the martin, arrives in this 
country rather later than the swallow, and 
remains longer. It builds often in the crags 
of rocks, near the sea ; often under the 
eaves and cornices of houses. As soon as 
the young are able to fly, they are fed by 
the old birds upon the wing, by a process 
so rapid and instantaneous, as almost to be 
deemed incredible by those who have not 
actually witnessed it. Before their depar- 
ture, they collect in immense flocks in the 
small islands of the Thames, where they 
roost, and in their flights about which they 
almost obscure by their numbers the face 
of the sky. It is observed, that in compa- 
rison with the multitudes which depart, 
there are extremely few which return. See 
Aves, Plate VIII. fig. 3. 
II. apus, or the swift, arrives later and 
quits sooner than any other species, and is al- 
so larger and stronger. It builds in elevated , 
situations, particularly about churches and 
steeples. As these birds catch at almost 
every thing in the air, they are taken some- 
times by a cockchaffer, or other insects, 
tied to a thread. In the Isle of Zante this 
torturing amusement is practised on them 
by boys, who catch them indeed often in 
immense numbers by a string and feathered 
hook only, which they suspend from some 
elevated situation. They retire during the 
heat of the day; but in the morning and 
evening are incessantly on the wing, taking 
higher and bolder flights than the swallows, 
and always keeping separate from them. 
They leave this island in August. See 
Aves, Plate VIII. fig. 4. 
H. esculenta, or the Chinese swallow, is 
said to be less than the wren by some 
authors, while others attribute to it the size 
of the martin. This bird is principally re- 
markable for its nest, which, singular as it 
may appear, is not only used for food, but 
regarded as one of the greatest luxuries 
on which the genuine epicure can possibly 
banquet. The weight of this nest is about 
half an ounce : it is formed in the shape of 
a half of a lemon, and composed of many 
easily discriminated layers of a substance 
somewhat resembling isinglass. The mate- 
rials which constitute it have been the sub- 
ject of considerable diversity of opinion, 
and are not yet (at least in this country) as-< 
certained. It is chiefly applied in soups 
and ragouts, made of chickens, and mixed 
with a considerable quantity of ginseng. 
HISPA, in natural history, a genus of in- 
sects of the order Coleoptera. Antennae 
cylindrical, approximate at the base, and 
seated between the eyes ; feelers fusiform ; 
thorax and shells often spinous or toothed 
at the tip. There have been twenty-six 
species enumerated and described, very few 
of which are to be found in this country. 
They are separated into three divisions : 
A. lip-horny, entire. B. lip-membranace- 
ous, subemargihate. C. lip-membranace- 
ous, entire. H. atra is the chief species 
known in this country, found at the roots- 
of long grass. It is of a deep unpolished 
black, ‘and has the upper part of the body 
entirely covered with long and strong 
H h 2 
