The Chimney Swallow, though by no means a powerful or hardy bird, possesses such an amount of life and spirit as is seldom met with in any other members of the feathered race, and which no inclemencies of weather or scarcity of food can entirely quell. Its appearance is extremely trim, and its disposition so brisk and lively that it has ever been an especial favourite. Morning has scarcely dawned before it is on the alert, and occupied in twittering its summons to the rest of the world to be up and about their work. Its voice can boast no real music, but its notes are so sprightly, and so evidently the outpouring of the bird's own joyous sensations, as it turns its breast in all directions, flaps its wings, and indulges in a variety of animated gestures, that it cannot fail to please the hearer, and impart an additional charm to the beauties of the first hours of a bright early summer's day. The flight of this species is peculiarly light and graceful, and very far superior to its movements upon the ground, over which it crawls with an awkward and helpless step, its little feet appearing quite unable to support its body, either when walking or perching. When upon the wing the powers of the Swallow are seen in their full perfection, and few objects are more beautiful than one of these birds, as it skims over the face of the country, now soaring upwards to a great height, and now sinking suddenly down until it almost sweeps the ground; then changing its course, it flies backwards and forwards with amazing celerity, pursuing its way with untiring speed, and not unfrequently indulging in a bathe in the lake or stream over the bosom of which it delights to skim. This proceeding, like all its other evolutions on the wing, is rapidly and easily accomplished; the bird sinks close to the water, and suddenly darts beneath its surface, re-appearing in less than a moment, and then flies off to a distance to shake the moisture from its plumage. The Swallow devours enormous numbers of flies, beetles, and butterflies; when in pursuit of prey it either keeps near the ground, or skims through the air at an altitude regulated according to the barometrical state of the atmosphere, insomuch that from this fact has arisen the popular idea that its movements indicate the kind of weather to be expected.