Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Variety Of Conjectures Concerning The Appearance And Departure Of Swallows.
ON THE VARIETY OF CONJECTURES CONCERNING THE APPEARANCE AND DEPARTURE OF SWALLOWS .
• ' TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE ,
SIR , HAVING observed mention made in different works on ornithology of . the regular appearance in the spring , and the regular departure in the autumn , of the swallow-tribes , and having attentively considered the various opinions therein entertained , some conceiving them as coming from , and taking their flight to , distant regions , and others supposing them to continue , during the winter monthsin
, holes of clifts , or at the bottoms of lakes and rivers ; I have taken the liberty to suggest a few reflections upon the same subject , chiefly with a view to the latter opinion , which to me appears at least , indefensible , if nothing worse . Many of these have been discovered , it has been said , clung together under water y but , as a judicious writer is inclined to think " that may be only a casual event" ( for why are
not more of them produced , when ponds and rivers are so frequently dragged in all seasons , of the year ?) " as it would be miraculous indeed to preserve them in that element , and from destruction by various kinds offish ; " but especially when that celebrated anatomist , John Hunter , as it has been observed , has proved that they are unfurnished with organs to support them during the winter in a state of
torpor in either situation . ' The same gentleman , in another part of his letter , is disposed to think , from having observed , as he imagined , a second brood so late as the 21 st of November , on the wing , and afterwards settling , under the pediment of a lofty building , that there they secreted themselves during the winter . These were only a few stragglers that might be supposed to be left behind after the general migration ; for though
they might be too weak to attempt , on one supposition , so arduous a flight with their companions , there is not the same reason on the other , why they should not also disappear if the others descended to the bottom of the lakes at the general immersion . But , from these and other partial appearances , a general opinion has- been adopted , that there is no migration ; and the fact that has been adduced to
support it , of many having been seen to take refuge after a long flight on the sails and shrouds of ships , has been said to be confined to p laces within a small distance from land , which they alledge proves nothing for their traversing a great length of ocean ; but the distance is not so great to the nearest parts of the continent , but that their flight across our channel may be readily admitted , especially when it is known that the . woodcock , a bird not more adaoted to . extensive
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Variety Of Conjectures Concerning The Appearance And Departure Of Swallows.
ON THE VARIETY OF CONJECTURES CONCERNING THE APPEARANCE AND DEPARTURE OF SWALLOWS .
• ' TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE ,
SIR , HAVING observed mention made in different works on ornithology of . the regular appearance in the spring , and the regular departure in the autumn , of the swallow-tribes , and having attentively considered the various opinions therein entertained , some conceiving them as coming from , and taking their flight to , distant regions , and others supposing them to continue , during the winter monthsin
, holes of clifts , or at the bottoms of lakes and rivers ; I have taken the liberty to suggest a few reflections upon the same subject , chiefly with a view to the latter opinion , which to me appears at least , indefensible , if nothing worse . Many of these have been discovered , it has been said , clung together under water y but , as a judicious writer is inclined to think " that may be only a casual event" ( for why are
not more of them produced , when ponds and rivers are so frequently dragged in all seasons , of the year ?) " as it would be miraculous indeed to preserve them in that element , and from destruction by various kinds offish ; " but especially when that celebrated anatomist , John Hunter , as it has been observed , has proved that they are unfurnished with organs to support them during the winter in a state of
torpor in either situation . ' The same gentleman , in another part of his letter , is disposed to think , from having observed , as he imagined , a second brood so late as the 21 st of November , on the wing , and afterwards settling , under the pediment of a lofty building , that there they secreted themselves during the winter . These were only a few stragglers that might be supposed to be left behind after the general migration ; for though
they might be too weak to attempt , on one supposition , so arduous a flight with their companions , there is not the same reason on the other , why they should not also disappear if the others descended to the bottom of the lakes at the general immersion . But , from these and other partial appearances , a general opinion has- been adopted , that there is no migration ; and the fact that has been adduced to
support it , of many having been seen to take refuge after a long flight on the sails and shrouds of ships , has been said to be confined to p laces within a small distance from land , which they alledge proves nothing for their traversing a great length of ocean ; but the distance is not so great to the nearest parts of the continent , but that their flight across our channel may be readily admitted , especially when it is known that the . woodcock , a bird not more adaoted to . extensive