Zoological recreations / [William John Broderip].

  • William Broderip
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Zoological recreations / [William John Broderip]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    10th of April appears to be the general average of the time of its arrival; the earliest period noted by White is the 26th of March, and the latest the 20th of April; the 7th of April and the 27th of that month, are the respective dates recorded by Markwick. The old French quatrain thus celebrates his habits: “ Dans les maisons fait son nid I’Hirondelle, On bien souvent dans quelque chemin^e: Car a voler legerement est nee, Tant qu’il n’y a oyseau plus kger qu’elle. He who would hear the swallow sing must rise early, for the bird is a matutinal songster, as Apuleius well knew. It would be a waste of time to do more than hint at the exploded fables of swallows retiring under water in the winter, though from time to time some worthy goody or gaffer even now tries to revive them, not without some recipients of the tale, so prone is the human mind to catch at any thing wonderful, and so constantly does error again rise to the surface ! but the evidence of the migration of the whole family is now so complete and irresistible, that it amounts to abso- lute proof. Again and again have they been seen crossing the sea, sometimes dropping into it to take a marine bath, and then pursuing their journey refreshed and exhilarated. The martin, with his pure white lower back and under parts, most probably turns his neb northward, from Africa, at the same •time with the swallow, but his powers of wing cannot keep pace with the extensive sail of the latter, and he generally arrives a few days later. The earliest and latest periods recorded by White are the 28th of March and the 1st of May, and those given by Mark- wick are the 14th of April and the 18th of May. The sand-martin arrives earlier than either of the other two species. The earliest and latest dates noted by White are the 21st of March and the 12th of April; Markwick’s are the 8th of April and the 16th of May. The average time of the arrival of the common-swift is early in May ; but White saw it as early as the 13th of April, and the latest time noticed by him is the 7th of May. Markwick never saw it earlier than the 28th of April, and the latest arrival observed by him was the 19th of that month. The great alpine-swift, which chooses the highest rocks and the most towering cathedrals for his nesting-places, can only be con- sidered as an accidental visiter to these islands, and does not appear to have been seen here earlier than in June. The architecture of the three first species of this family here noticed, deserves attention. Early in the season the swallows and house-martins may be seen on the ground in moist places, or near the edges of ponds or puddles. They are then collecting the clay
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