THE SWALLOWS. 
117 
admiration upon the beauty of the scene ; suddenly 
a swift-winged , noiseless phantom sails across our 
track, and alights upon a tree near by; it is then 
that we will listen to one of the most singular notes 
that is heard by night. Even the soft, full-toned, 
and richly varied song of the Mocking Bird, -with 
which it is often blended, cannot drown the sweetly 
cadenced voice of this plain and unobtrusive bird, as 
he sits and “ Chucks” and u Chuck-wills- widow ” 
away, during the live-long night. 
The unmeaning name of Groat-sucker has been ap- 
plied to various members of this family of birds, the 
ignorant inhabitants of the countries where they are 
found supposing that they sucked the milk from 
their flocks, which is not only improbable, but alto- 
gether absurd. There are many species found in 
various parts of the world, some of them being quite 
large, and some not less noisy. Upon these last has 
been bestowed the appropriate name of Night Jars. 
Of the myriads of winged visitors which annually 
flock to our shores from the south, there is perhaps 
no more interesting and familiar species than the 
Swallows. With what pleasant and happy recollec- 
tions is their arrival associated ! Spring, with all its 
attendant beauty, follows hard in the track of these 
little aerial voyagers ; and the bright flowers whose 
half-expanded buds have lain almost concealed be- 
neath the lingering snows, only await the gentle fan- 
ning of their wings to open into bloom. 
Every farmer’s child, and almost every school-boy 
in town or country, is at home among the Swallows ; 
