586 
BIRD-LIFE, 
or twisting this way and that, turning corners with the 
greatest address and nicety, darting even through small 
holes; nowit sweeps in short curves to the ground or surface 
of the water, or may he seen almost lost amongst the clouds; 
it turns summersaults in the air; in short, there is not a 
trick of flight of which it is not master : its powers in this 
accomplishment are unhounded, and, curiously enough, 
it performs every function of life while on the wing. It 
is when flying that it collects its food, which consists of 
small insects of every conceivable sort:—flies, gnats, 
gadflies, mosquitoes, midges, moths, small butterflies, and 
beetles. It bathes while flying, skimming along the 
glassy pool, dipping in the water as it passes, and shaking 
the pearl-drops from its wings. It sports and sings while 
on the wing, though it may also often be seen perched on 
some conspicuous spot, either sunning itself, resting, or 
singing. The song is simple ; a rapid twittering, which 
is, however, in the highest degree charming and 
soothing. 
In the early morning, at break of day, the Swallow is 
the first bird astir about the farm. “ Scarcely does the 
thin gray streak of dawn announce the coming day,” 
says Naumann, “than one hears the prelude song of the 
male Swallow, who has just awakened from his slumbers. 
All the other feathered denizens of the farm are still fast 
asleep, and every object is enveloped with a halo of misty 
gray, when one hears the ‘vierp, varp,’ of the Swallow, 
still uncertain and disconnected, but by degrees it becomes 
more continuous, till at last it forms a song, which is 
repeated several times from the spot where the bird is 
perched before it takes wing. A quarter of an hour has 
now passed, and other members of the sleepy band have 
shaken off their slumbers. The Redstart begins its 
