the year—the harbinger of the* best season : KëTivëè a life of
enjoyment amongst the loveliest forms of hatûM : winfiei&iS’"
unknown to him ; and he ^leaves''the green meadows-of Eng--
land in autumn, for the myrtle, and orange groves of Ita lff1
fl.nrl for the palms of'Africa'«” This is, in hrief^diflP
a perfect sketch of the history of the Swallow, and I have
only to fill up- the Outline-by adding the -details.. ,
The Swallow ST a periodical visiter' to' this 'Mèpùotry£â§fnd
more records are preserved of its firét appearanc^Ëvery-Season
than of that of any other bird.- The .average of manyreldids
and many seasons, .Seem&'To give the 10th of April - a ^ ^ B l
mean period Of its arrival; and it remains^ more - than si^ 1
months in this country, frequently on ifcrretum ’tdf^4‘th%^he
precise locality it had inhabited" for seasons before. ' -Swallows
are occasionally'âeeh earlier than the daté here w^^olned,
even in a backward springs the m i gration being^ihfiuënl^Siÿ
the temperature of the country" they proceed from. . In - ar
letter written by Charles Lucian Bonaparte,* Prince-jofiMu^grr
nano, and dated on board the Delaware, near Gibraltar,
March 20th, 1828, it is stated that a few days before, being
five hundred miles from the „coasts Of Portugal, anü» four
hundred from those of Africa, we were agreeably sfirprisedlSy
the appearance -of a few Swallows,. Hirur^âo rf$stica \&n.à
urbica, The wind had blown a gale from the. eastward. . In
that year the first Swallow'seen at' Carlisle; as recorded" by*
Mr. Heyshain, was on the 18th Of April : the first seen in
Cornwall, as recorded .by Mr. Couch, was on th$; l'ïth .
These birds, in crossing the Channel, Mr.. Couch observes,
reach the land near the shore, and in- misty Weather seem to
have a difficulty in finding it; for I have been assured by
intelligent fishermen, that, when the weather is hazy, Swallows,
Martins, Swifts, and.-Other-birds, are accustSEOd. to
alight on their boats at the distance of three or four leagues
from land} either singly or in small flocks ; at which time they
appear so. m u d lv ^ ^ e c ]1, that the Swallow is often only able
to ■fly^rqm^nf^end ofij^e boat to the other, when an attempt
Th^^^kpllftw’and Martin, .come..either
singly pr in ^ small'parties,1 and if »they do. not happen to be
pass on to they; accustomed haunts;
affeif twp ^rétbree, have jbdén vsOen} it may-perhaps, be
^% tnm h t jbe^kpliKers< m^ke.their appearance, In 1881 a
§Iiigl<^%alf®y was >se7envby< a* fisherman near the Eddystone
©»n tlfe 4th of Ap$|J|i fó.uri-.Wej,e-. seen ,-ou the T 8.th at sea,
fl'ymgfflowl^apd, toward^'the land at. three o’clock,.
P.M. - Mfl.rtifhs seén »én thé. I 6th ; but the
%st^Q*ff e ith h ri^ th la ^ th ’att. I^ a y t was . ön the 1.9 th.;, Swal-s
I%WS rand- M^rfei.ng|t£©lji?i»ued to H H IH E fishing-boats,
at éhe distancevof item leagU|ps| from land, through thg-twhole
« É E ^ ^ B Ü lafit rtaie^o^ h a t circumstance being .so late as
‘ feh f§W o |fia t% tn 04h. T |e |É é re rarely ipqie than two or
threejjïf.a company; and^éonsjdering that the Wheat ear and
Whljw; Warbler;cross'in?!safetyydhe astat^hf fatiguejn which
- th ^ a r ^ ^ m f I S remarkable^ One man informs me that in
fine-jwea&^r hediash>ftenjSè,enf them drop on the water, flat,
and with^wingS' expanded,- andsprj^ently after fly off again, as
if refreshed. vySEhe fact of the Swallovf,. settling on the sea
.and flying up again, has bt^pwen, also, and recorded by Mr.
And^boifeg
Tlie migration of Swallows and Martins being in. a diree-r
tiontnearly due north and south,;.those ..referred ,to in the
extract from thexcommunication of the Prince .of Musignano,
had been driyen- by the gale from the east far to the west of
their true GQurse. Bewick,' in the introduction to his History
of British Birds,* says that an intelligent master Of a
S^ssel told him, that, whilst he was sailing early, in the spring
between the islands of Minorca and Majorca, he saw great
numbers of Swallows flying northwards, many of which from
fatigue, alighted on the rigging of the spip in the evening,