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Before the awesome ability of birds to fly long distances in migration was understood, the disappearance of birds in autumn mystified people.
Graceful aerialists, swallows gather in flocks of thousands before migrating south when the coming of winter threatens insect food supplies. Suddenly, where there were birds beyond counting, there are none. Where do they go? In medieval Europe it was commonly believed that swallows buried themselves in swamps and hibernated during winter.
Some aspects of annual migrations of birds are still not understood. We know where they disappear to, but not how they navigate during the trip south from the United States to the American tropics.
On March 18, Stella Clark, my friend at the Rappahannock County library, told me the Tree Swallows had returned to her property in Sperryville. That seemed mighty early to me. Yet, the next day, Bruce Jones of Washington informed me Tree Swallows were inspecting his bluebird nest boxes, I was convinced. Clark and Jones know their birds.
Swallows are the most graceful of birds as they whirl,
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