24 
not fly with so much assiduity, and indeed do not make their appearance during 
the day, until the cloud is formed, and the sky overcast. But then, it is not the 
darkness alone which brings them abroad; for the mere cloud of day may 
darken the sky fully more than the incipient rain-cloud, and yet not a Swift shall 
be tempted to take wing. There is no doubt that these birds come forth to feed; 
and consequently their insect prey must have the same feeling of the coming rain 
as they themselves have : but why insects should rise so high into the air, at these 
times, as the elevation at which the Swifts are found hawking, is a matter which 
we cannot easily determine. 
Almost all birds which have been silenced by the drought renew their songs 
upon the approach of rain. Domestic poultry, also, make more noise than on 
other occasions ; and the cackling of Geese, the gabbling of Turkies, the wailing 
of Guinea Fowl, and the screaming of Peacocks, are blended together in full 
chorus. It is somewhat remarkable that Chanticleer does not sound his silver 
bugle upon these occasions, but reserves it to welcome the day-spring from the 
east. Indeed, when the others are all in bustle and activity, as if rejoicing at the 
coming rain, he and his companions betake themselves to the roost, or at all 
events look out for shelter. There is something worthy of notice in this. Geese 
and Turkies are the most joyous inhabitants of the farm-yard upon these occa¬ 
sions. Geese are everywhere natives of humid places ; for though they are, per* 
haps, the least aquatic of all web-footed birds, they do not thrive if they have not 
access to water. Turkies, too, are natives of the forests of North America, in 
which humidity is the prevailing character of the atmosphere; and it is by no 
means improbable that the rapid decrease of wild Turkies in the settled parts of 
the United States, is as much owing to the dry air which has been produced by 
destroying the woods, as to the vigilance of Jonathan with his rifle. The com¬ 
mon domestic Fowl, on the other hand, is a native of the jungles of India, where 
drought is the prevailing character of the climate ; and their plumage suffers more 
from rain than that of any other bird with which we are acquainted. The Guinea 
Fowl comes from a country of a somewhat intermediate character; its native zone 
being that between the northern and southern trade-winds, where the atmosphere 
is not under the control of either of the general currents ; and thus it is easily 
disturbed by the production of heavy showers, by local causes. 
Many other instances of prediction of the summer rain-storm, in animals 
freely exposed to the atmosphere, will occur to the reader ; and it will always be 
found that animals which are pleasurably excited on such occasions, are originally 
natives of moist climates, or of humid places; while those which are painfully 
excited inhabit the dry country, and suffer from exposure to rain. We have a re¬ 
markable instance of this in the domestic Cat, whose face-washing and general 
trimming of her fur, has been the cottage barometer time out of mind; and the 
observation has been too repeatedly made to be doubtful. This operation of the 
