And this was
the case in the beginning of this very month; for, on the fourth of
November, more than twenty house-martins, which, in appearance,
had all departed about the seventh of October, were seen again, for
that one morning only, sporting between my fields and the Hanger,
and feasting on insects which swarmed in that sheltered district.
The preceding day was wet and blustering, but the fourth was dark
and mild, and soft, the wind at south-west, and the thermometer at
58 1/2 ; a pitch not common at that season of the year. Moreover,
it may not be amiss to add in this place, that whenever the
thermometer is above 50 the bat comes flitting out in every
autumnal and winter month.
From all these circumstances laid together, it is obvious that torpid
insects, reptiles, and quadrupeds, are awakened from their
profoundest slumbers by a little untimely warmth; and therefore
that nothing so much promotes this death-like stupor as a defect of
heat. And farther, it is reasonable to suppose that two whole
species, or at least many individuals of those two species, of British
hirundines, do never leave this island at all, but partake of the same
benumbed state: for we cannot suppose that, after a month's
absence, house-martins can return from southern regions to appear
for one morning in November, or that house-swallows should leave
the districts of Africa to enjoy, in March, the transient summer of a
couple of days.
Pages:
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337