The Swallows. 
(231) THE BIRD WORLD, 
characteristic acutely forked tail. The 
female is very much similar to the male, 
with the exception that the outer tail . 
feathers are shorter, and in place of the 
dusky reddish-white underparts the 
colour is white. 
The Flocking for Migration. 
A sight never to be forgotten with 
one who has witnessed it is the vast 
congregating of these birds during the 
month of September previous to their 
taking their departure till another 
spring, and I know one spot where this 
great gathering takes place unfailingly 
every year, and I am sure there must 
be thousands of these birds gathered 
together preparing for their migration 
to a warmer clime; and what a feeling 
possesses one when one wakes up some 
morning to find that many hundreds of 
these countless hordes of birds, which 
were making the vicinity a perfect 
pandemonium with their endless twit¬ 
tering only the night before, have taken 
their departure and bidden us farewell 
for another year. It is interesting to 
note also that all the Swallows do not 
depart at the same time, but the young 
of the year go first, the others follow¬ 
ing shortly after. Many of my readers 
will now query: “ If the young go first, 
how will they know where to go ? ” My 
reply is, “ Their unfailing instinct en¬ 
dowed them by God who made all 
things, and the very same instinct which 
bade their parents the year before, rise 
to return to us to breed and give them 
birth, and their taking advantage of a 
favourable wind which can carry them 
in a very short time to where their in¬ 
stinct leads them.” 
A Pathetic Occurrence. 
I can imagine nothing more pathetic 
than a mother Swallow who has still 
four or five helpless youngsters in her 
late nest, and her consequent maternal 
duties to fulfil, with the call of instinct 
to migrate strong upon her, before it is 
too late and the supply of food gives 
out. How she flutters about the nest 
each day, seeming to visit it less than 
the day before, and seeming to be 
growing weaker each day, and until she 
knows it is her destruction to put off a 
day longer will she take herself off and 
leave her helpless young to die. These 
instances are luckily rare, and cold and 
want of food soon puts an end to their 
innocent young lives, and although 
their parents are in no wise to be 
blamed, we all feel compassion on these 
little ones left—unable to fly or seek 
for food—to die, 
decreasing Numbers. 
There can be do doubt that every year 
sees a decrease in the Swallow family. 
This, no doubt, is due to the fact that 
it is greatly sought after as an article 
of food on the Continent and for pur¬ 
poses of millinery, great numbers of 
these birds being slaughtered year after 
year at the time of migration. This is 
greatly to be regretted, as the good 
the Swallows do is incalculable, ridding 
the air as they do of countless hordes 
of obnoxious insects which are enemies 
of the farmer and gardener. When we 
think of a single Swallow being on the 
wing from, say, 16 to 18 hours per day, 
we can easily imagine the great good 
these birds do. The Swallow has suf¬ 
fered, too, at the hands of the British 
housewife in the fact that there is a 
certain parasite that follows the Swal¬ 
low, and when the Swallow builds above 
the window this parasite often finds its 
way into the house, which the good wife 
resents; and last year I regret to say I 
witnessed a woman sweep away two 
nests of the Swallow, and when I en¬ 
quired this was her reason for destroy¬ 
ing the homes of these useful birds. 
In conclusion, I would leave the Swal¬ 
low’s welfare in the hands of my readers, 
and I trust they will study the Swallow 
as its habits merit. 
