SWALLOWS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sts,—Countess Evelyn Martinengo Cesaresco says that she has good grounds for believing that vast numbers of our summer visitants are killed on their way by human devices in the South of France. Lhave heard this statement made before, and cannot tell whether it is true to fact. The Foreign Office ought to inquire into this matter, and, if the facts should he as stated, make a representation to the French Government. It is the duty of the Foreign Office to protect British citizens abroad, and these birds who nest here are our little citizens. Birds of the swallow tribe do us material service by keeping down the winged insect hosts. I fancy also that the swift per- petual motion of numbers of them checks the stagnation of air, just as swift-darting fish check the stagnation of enclosed water. This might be the reason of the observation noted by Shakespeare that "Where they most haunt the air is delicate."
—I am, Sir, &c., BERNARD HOLLAND. Harbledown, near Canterbury.
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