see her not ourselves, we are at least anxious to learn if others have been more fortunate; and when at length she flies before us, we hail her as the sure herald of brighter days, and forget for a moment the sage adage, so often dealt out to us by the wise and prudent, that "one swallow does not make a summer." It is a sober truth which we may not deny, yet doth the first swallow, come she early or late, bring fair summer promises, which we hope ever to welcome with delight. The physician carries the intelligence of her arrival to the chamber of the invalid, as the cheering presage of a more genial season; the aged man rests on his staff, and watches with pleasure the swift flight of the new-comer, as she sweeps over the valley; the little child tells the news to his mates of the nursery and the school-room, and they rejoice in the pleasant tidings.

"The welcome guest of settled spring,

The swallow too is come at last!

Just at sunset, when thrushes sing,
I saw her dash with rapid wing,
And hail'd her as she past.”*

* Charlotte Smith.

THE SWALLOW.

What joy, welcome herald, thou bringest
To our homes o'er the sun-bright sea!
What glad lays of summer thou singest,
When she visits our shores with thee.

But she flies, and the warm spell is broken
That bound thy swift wing so long:
Sweet bird, to our hearts thou hast spoken,
In the notes of that farewell song.

Still thy soft hymns of praise art thou pouring;
Still on heaven's gentle airs dost thou fly;
So above should our spirits be soaring,
To bask in a brighter sky.

Oh! the path of the worldling is chilling,
He knows but the winter of time;
While the soul of the Christian is thrilling,
In the light of a purer clime.

ORDER PASSERES.

Goat-sucker. Fern-Owl. Night-Jar. Churn-Owl.

Caprimulgus Europæus.

Of this curious and interesting race of birds, Cuvier observes that they have the same light and soft plumage, shaded with grey and brown,

as the nocturnal birds. In fact, they may be said to be half night-birds, or rather twilightbirds, flying abroad only in the twilight, or in fine nights. They have an enormous mouth, still more deeply cleft than the swallow: this is furnished with strong mustachios, called by naturalists, vibrissæ, and is capable of receiving the largest insects; such as chaffers, night-beetles, and moths. When once within his extended beak, this bird is said to have no occasion to close it to secure his prey from escape; nature has furnished him with a gluey secretion, which falling on the insects, effectually detains them. The fern-owl, of which we have given the figure, is the only species found in Europe. It has received several popular names beside those mentioned above, such as square-tailed swallow, nightraven, night-hawk, dor-hawk, puckeridge, &c.

White, of Selborne, seems to have been the first English naturalist who paid much attention to the habits of this bird. To him it was a source of great amusement, as he watched it darting about on rapid wing in the summer twilight, or listened to its jarring note, which he compared to the clattering of castanets.* He

"The Fern-Owl," says this naturalist, "from the dusk till day-break, serenades his mate with the clattering of castanets."