The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-07-07

The Swallow Tree.

Inc OWduOW 1Te6.
BURLINGTON, (VT) JUNE Is, 1852.
Editors of The Traveller Objects
which are interesting to the curious and
puzzling to the knowing ones, are CON-
ing to the light, almost everyday, in va
rous parts of the country OF this class
are the contents of what is technically |
called a S,call0w Tree, which have re-
Gently been discovered in Middlebury in |
this State. At the time the first settle
mcnts were made in the western parts of
Vermont. these swallow trees were quite
common here, and several of them are
described by DR.. Williams in his history
of the State. They were usually very
large elms, or sycamores, having exten-
sive hollows within and an opening in
the side, at considerable height from
the ground. at which tho swallows enter
ed and made their egress Early each
spring, and about sunrise in the
morning, myriads of swallows were seen
to issue from the holes in these trees and
dispersc themselves over the country.
and, in the dusk of the evening they
were observed to return again to their
common roosting places in the hollows
of the trees Thus they continued to
dsperse themselves in the morning and
collect together again in the evening, till
they commenced pairing and rearing
their young in the spring. and the same
phneomena were also observed again
just before the final disappearance of the
fall and for long time the opinion pre-
vailed that they passed the winter in
these trees in n torpid state. But it is
now, believe. well settled that this re-
sort to particular trees, in early times,
and to particular old chimmncys in mod
ern, as common roosting places, is only a
temporary arrangement attending their
arrival in spring and their migration
southwark in autumn.
These swallow trees, which were so
common in early times, had, probably
many of them, been restored to by thous-
ands of birds year after year, for centu-
res The natural consequence would be,
for the cavities in which they roasted. to
become gradually filled up with excre-
ment cast off feathers, exuvia of insects
and rotten wood, and, accordingly, trees
nave peeh iounu III 'nis coi,'i'loh iong
aiter the swallows haa ceased 10 resort
10 them' OnG Oh this KIND In Onlo, Is
in Wilson's Ornithology. The tree was
a hollow sycamore, five feet in diameter,
and had been blown down. Its immense
hollow was found to be filled, for the space
OF ni'eeh Iee', win mass oi cecaycu
iea'ners'wi'n small aun'A'ere Oh prown-
ish aust anu INC eAu'ia oi various III
secrs' :. ,,.,u,
Inc ,ree recently iounu III 'l,uuieoury
resempled' IN most 1,t respects, 'he one a
pove mentioned me tree nau peen
p,o"h down ana hau: altcrwarus, ,:t',, nearly
all ro.!ed away: ieavlhg li''ie remaining
excepting ,ne iea'hery mass WHICH iau
liiea us morrow, anu wn'cn n, was DO" @ peu'
ded IN ieaveS ana moss Inc Tree was
propac'y' an eim; ana, Juugihe from 'ne
SIZE oi 'he cyiinurica' mass or tne ooli
tents the d,ameter Oh i's hoiiow mus,
nave peeh ABOUT ni'een nincncs' whlcn hou ~,
peeh hiiea some SIX or seven iee'' vi
tne materials wnicn nau hiicu IL, apou'
one-haii consists Oh iea'ners' pelng' icI
she most part, tne %ing anu ,he 'ai'
ieathers OF the cnlmney swallows
CyPSef"S Pe'aSstHS, Icm) Inc o'her
hai' Is nlaue up oi 'he eA9'ia Oh insects
mostly the fragments ana eggs Oh 'he
large Wood ant, ana prowhlsn uust
Pro1ap!y derived from .he uecayea "oou
OF the interior OF the tree ,,u
Now while the discovery al Midaie'
bury Is, on many accounts an interesting
one there would DC nothing very remark,
aDie IN IL, were 'he materlals "nich i,"u
hlled the hollow oil the tree Jumpied
promlscuously and dlsorderiy together'
1t would be Just what we snould expect
to hnd In a hollow tree, which had been
for centuries, perhaps the ro0sting place
OF myriads OF swallows Dut thlS Is
not ,he case as genera 'nlng,.ne iaree
ieatners nave tnelr q9ilis pointing OUT
wara al the surface Oh 'he cyilnurical mass ~
whlie the plemes, OF enIs r containing .ne
vahes' point inward 1hls arrangemoh.
might perhaps arise from the nesting Oh
smaii quaurupeus IN ,he noiio"' nnah.ne a!A,
tDe leainerS tnelf DEC. Dut III duulllOl