ut one
of them in my bosom, between my skin and shirt, and laid another on a
board, the sun shining full and warm upon it; and one or two of my
companions did the like. That in my bosom revived in about a quarter of
an hour; feeling it move, I took it out to look at it; but perceiving it
not sufficiently come to itself, I put it in again; in about another
quarter, feeling it flutter pretty briskly, I took it out, and admired
it. Being now perfectly recovered, before I was aware, it took its
flight; the covering of the boat prevented me from seeing where it went.
The bird on the board, though exposed to a full sun, yet, I presume from
a chilliness of the air, did not revive so as to be able to fly."[115]

On this account I may observe that Collinson would hardly have been the
medium of this communication, unless he had been satisfied of the
probity of his correspondent. The time was "the latter end of March," a
fortnight at least before the arrival of the Sand Martin--the earliest
of our migrants; and the whole enterprise of the boys, and the
familiarity of the waterman with the circumstance, as well as their
assertions, shew that they, at least, had no doubt about this being a
case of hybernation. Yet the repeated exploration of the Sand Martin's
burrows in this country, in winter, has produced no birds.

White of Selborne, who was very much interested in the solution of this
question, mentions two instances--both, however, on hearsay evidence. A
clergyman assured him that, when he was a boy, some workmen, in pulling
down the battlements of a tower, early in spring, found two or three
Swifts _among the rubbish_, which appeared dead, but revived in the
warmth. The other account was that of the fall of a portion of the cliff
near Brighton in winter, when many persons found Swallows among the
rubbish; but here even White's informant did not see the birds, but was
merely told of them.[116]

Bishop Stanley, in his "Familiar History of Birds," has collected some
stories which appear circumstantial enough, if we could be quite sure
they were authentic; on which point the good bishop seems to give the
weight of his own character, since he observes that they are "cases
which have come to our knowledge, on the most respectable authority."

"On the 16th of November 1826, a gentleman residing near Loch Awe, in
Scotland, having occasion to examine an out-house, used as a cart-shed,
saw an unusual appearance upon one of the rafter