still continues in this garden; and retired under ground about the 20th of November, and came out again for one day on the 30th: it lies now buried in a wet swampy border under a wall facing to the south, and is enveloped at present in mud and mire! Here is a large rookery round this house, the inhabitants of which seem to get their livelihood very easily; for they spend the greatest part of the day on their nest-trees when the weather is mild. These rooks retire every evening, all the winter, from this rookery, where they only call by the way, as they are going to roost in deep woods: at the dawn of day, they always revisit their nest-trees,* and are preceded a few minutes by a flight of daws, that act, as it were, as their harbingers. + * Rooks are not easily driven from the trees on which they were bred. Two striking instances of this have recently been witnessed in Edinburgh, on the grounds of the Earl of Moray, which have all been lately converted into magnificent streets and squares. Several rooks continue on the few remaining trees at the end of Ainslie Place; and at St Bernard's Crescent, which is surrounded on both sides with houses, the rooks still incubate. Mr Jesse makes the following curious remarks, illustrative of the attachment of this bird to its old accustomed haunts, and to the established usages of its tribe: "The average number of rooks' nests, during the last four years, in the avenue of Hampton-Court Park, has been about seven hundred and fifty. Allowing three young birds and a pair of old ones to each nest, the number would amount to three thousand seven hundred and fifty. They are very particular that none of their society build away from the usual line of trees. A pair of rooks did so this spring, 1832, and when their nest was nearly finished, at least fifty others came and demolished it in a few minutes." Differently from all other birds, rooks exhibit much sympathy when one of their fraternity has been killed, or hurt by a shot. They hover over their wounded companion, uttering cries of distress, and endeavouring all in their power to render him assistance. If he be able to flutter along, they animate him with their voices, and by advancing a little in front, try to induce him by their example to follow.-ED. The jack-daw is a bird of great intelligence; is easily domesticated, and becomes very familiar. We had a pair in Fife, which flew about all our grounds, and even to the villages around, yet never strayed. They slept in a box, at a back window of the house. They entered the house, and even allowed themselves to be handled. They caught in their bill with great adroitness pieces of bread which were thrown to them. They followed the different members of our family through all the walks of the garden and shrubbery, and would perch on a tree, near the seats, and chatter while any person rested. One of them pronounced several words very distinctly; such as wee kaeie, (little kae, the Scottish provincial name,) and come here. They were much addicted to stealing, and carried SWALLOWS. 149 LETTER LVII. TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON. SELBORNE, January 29, 1774. DEAR SIR, -The house-swallow, or chimney-swallow, is, undoubtedly, the first comer of all the British hirundines; and appears in general on or about the thirteenth of April, as I have remarked from many years' observation.* Not but now and then a straggler is seen much earlier : and, in particular, when I was a boy, I observed a swallow for a whole day together on a sunny warm Shrove Tuesday, which day could not fall out later than the middle of March, and often happened early in February. It is worth remarking, that these birds are seen first about lakes and mill-ponds; and it is also very particular, that, if these early visitors happen to find frost and snow, as was the case of the two dreadful springs of 1770 and 1771, they immediately withdraw for a time; a circumstance this, much more in favour of hiding than migration; since it is much more probable that a bird should retire to its hybernaculum just off to their box every thing they could get hold of. Besides this, they were very mischievous: they would attend the gardener at his work, and as soon as he removed to another part of the garden, they pulled up by the roots every thing he had planted; such as young cabbages, or leeks. They had particular pleasure in turning over the leaves of a book, or pulling the whole thread off a bobbin. - ED. * The following beautiful and vivid reflections on the swallow are from the pen of the late Sir Humphry Davy:· :-"I delight in this living landscape! the swallow is one of my favourite birds, and a rival of the nightingale; for he glads my sense of hearing. He is the joyous prophet of the year, the harbinger of the best season; he has a life of enjoyment amongst the loveliest forms of nature; winter is unknown to him, and he leaves the green meadows of England in autumn for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and for the palms of Africa; he has always objects of pursuit, and his success is secure. Even the beings selected for his prey are poetical, beautiful, and transient. The ephemeræ are saved by his means from a slow and lingering death in the evening, and killed in a moment when they have known nothing of life but pleasure. He is the constant destroyer of insects, the friend of man; and with the stork and the ibis, may be regarded as a sacred bird. This instinct, which gives him his appointed seasons, and which teaches him always when and where to move, may be regarded as flowing from a Divine source, and he belongs to the oracles of nature, which speak the awful and intelligible language of a present Deity."-ED. at hand, than return for a week or two only to warmer latitudes.* The swallow, though called the chimney-swallow, by no means builds altogether in chimneys, but often within barns and out-houses, against the rafters; and so she did in Virgil's time, Ante Garrula quàm tignis nidos suspendat hirundo. In Sweden, she builds in barns, and is called ladu swala, (the barn-swallow.) Besides, in the warmer parts of Europe, there are no chimneys to houses, except they are English built; in these countries, she constructs her nest in porches, and gateways, and galleries, and open halls.† *That the migration of the swallow elicited attention in the earliest times, is evident from the manner in which it is noticed by the prophet Jeremiah. From that migration also, Cicero has drawn the following simile: "As swallows are present with us in summer, but are gone in winter, so false friends attend us in the sunshine of prosperity, but in the winter of affliction they all flee away." The ancients usually mention this bird as wintering in Africa; which is distinctly stated in Anacreon, λy. Edn. Brunck. p. 38. So great a favourite was the swallow among the Greeks, particularly at Rhodes, that they had a festival called Edda, which was a holyday for the Greek boys, when they carried about young swallows, and sung a song, which is preserved in the works of Meursius. It has been thus rendered in English: He comes! He comes! who loves to hear His sable wing, and snowy breast. * : These young mendicants (like Eton scholars at the Montem) used to levy contributions from the good nature of their fellow-citizens. It is remarkable that most countries have a similar proverb relating to the swallow's accidental appearance before its usual time. The French have, Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps; the Germans, Eine Sheval bemacht keinen Fruhling; the Dutch, Eeu swalaw maak geen zomer; the Italians, Una rodine non fa primevera; the Swedes, En svala gor ingen sommar; which may be all literally translated by the English proverb, "One swallow doth not make a summer. The story is well known of a thin brass plate having been fixed on a swallow, with this inscription," Prithee, swallow, whither goest thou in winter?" The bird returned next spring, with the answer subjoined, “To Anthony of Athens. Why dost thou inquire?". ED. + Dr Richardson gives a curious example of the cliff-swallow (hirundo lunifrons) building in houses." On the 25th of June, in the year 1825,” says he, "a number of them made their first appearance at Fort Chepewyan, North America, and built their nests under the eaves of the dwelling-house, which are about six feet above a balcony that extends the Vol iii. p. 974, folio edition. Here and there a bird may affect some odd, peculiar place; as we have known a swallow build down the shaft of an old well, through which chalk had been formerly drawn up, for the purpose of manure; but, in general, with us this hirundo breeds in chimneys, and loves to haunt those stacks where there is a constant fire-no doubt for the sake of warmth. Not that it can subsist in the immediate shaft where there is a fire; but prefers one adjoining to that of the kitchen, and disregards the perpetual smoke of that funnel, as I have often observed with some degree of wonder. Five or six, or more feet down the chimney, does this little bird begin to form her nest, about the middle of May, which whole length of the building, and is a frequented promenade. They had thus to graze the heads of the passengers on entering their nests, and were, moreover, exposed to the depredations of the children, to whom they were novelties; yet they preferred the dwelling-house to the more lofty eaves of the storehouses, and, on the following season, returned with augmented numbers to the same spot. Fort Chepewyan has existed for many years, and trading posts, though far distant from each other, have been established in the fur countries for a century and a half; yet this, as far as I could learn, is the first instance of this species of swallow placing itself under the protection of man within the widely extended lands north of the great lakes. What cause could have thus suddenly called into action that confidence in the human race, with which the Framer of the universe has endowed this species, in common with others of the swallow tribe? It has been supposed that birds, frequenting desert countries, and unaccustomed to annoyance from man, would approach him fearlessly, or at least be less shy than those inhabiting the thickly peopled districts where they are daily exposed to the attacks of the great destroyer of their tribes. But although this may be true of some families of birds, it is far from being generally the case. On the contrary, the small birds of the fur countries, which are never objects of pursuit, and scarcely even of notice, to the Indian hunter, are shy, retiring, and distrustful, their habits contrasting strongly with the boldness and familiarity of sparrows, that are persecuted to death by every idle boy in Europe. Nay, some species which are bold enough during their winter residence in the United States, evince great timidity in the northern regions, where the raising their progeny occupies the whole time. In like manner, the redbreast of Europe, familiar as it is in winter, sequesters itself with the greatest care in the breeding season. The question, however, recurs, What is the peculiarity of economy which leads one species of bird to conceal its nest with the most extraordinary care and address, and another to place its offspring in the most exposed situation it can select ?" In the cabinet of the Lyceum, Governor De Witt Clinton has given an account of the fulvous swallow, il folva, which is nearly allied to the preceding species, having built its nest in the walls of houses in the Western States; and which has, every succeeding year, been advancing farther to the eastward.-ED. consists, like that of the house-marten, of a crust, or shell, composed of dirt, or mud, mixed with short pieces of straw, to render it tough and permanent; with this difference, that whereas the shell of the marten is nearly hemispheric, that of the swallow is open at the top, and like half a deep dish: this nest is lined with fine grasses, and feathers, which are often collected as they float in the air. Wonderful is the address which this adroit bird shews all day long, in ascending and descending with security through so narrow a pass. When hovering over the mouth of the funnel, the vibrations of her wings, acting on the confined air, occasion a rumbling like thunder. It is not improbable that the dam submits to this inconvenient situation so low in the shaft, in order to secure her broods from rapacious birds, and particularly from owls, which frequently fall down chimneys, perhaps in attempting to get at these nestlings.* The swallow lays from four to six white eggs, dotted with red specks; and brings out her first brood about the last week in June, or the first week in July. The progressive method by which the young are introduced into life is very amusing: first they emerge from the shaft with difficulty enough, and often fall down into the rooms below; for a day or so, they are fed on the chimney top, and then are conducted to the dead leafless bough of some tree, where, sitting in a row, they are attended with great assiduity, and may then be called perchers. In a day or two more, they become fliers, but are still unable to take their own food; therefore, they play about near the place where the dams are hawking for flies; and when a mouthful is collected, at a certain signal given, the dam and the nestling advance, rising towards each other, and meeting at an angle; the young one all the while uttering Swallows have a strong attachment to places where they once found security, and sometimes make their nests in curious situations. At Blois, in France, a chimney, which had a moving iron top placed over it to prevent smoking, became, in consequence of the fireplace being bricked up, a safe place for building in; and, no doubt, the birds discovered that it was such. Within the very hood, or top of this machine, swinging about with every wind, and making a most hideous noise, swallows have built their nests for the last two years, 1830 and 1831; and often, for five minutes or more, when the wind was high, they have been noticed in vain attempting to get into it, the constant motion preventing them from entering their airy dwelling. The force of habit must be very strong indeed to induce birds to choose so inconvenient a situation for incubation. No doubt, however, the feelings of security overcome many considerations. — ED. |