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There are no swallows here. Gnats of all kinds
pass the early and longest period of their lives in
water; first as wriggling, red-jointed worms, next
as jerking, big-headed, bristly, tubular-tailed
larvae, under the skin of which the winged climax
is gradually elaborated; and from which skin,
while floating on the surface of its cradle-pool, it
skilfully hatches and extricates itself in the summer
time. In England and other countries, where
human existence is not seriously impeded by
musquitoes, swallows may be seen skimming the
surface of ponds and pools and swampy places
where gnats are hatching and newly fledged;
the snapping of the swallows’ beaks tells of the
multitudes they devour.
When the air is clear and dry the gnats are able
to soar to considerable heights; when it is damp
and clammy their wings are clogged, and they can
scarcely raise themselves above the surface of the
ground. The swallows follow them in either case,
and hence the well-known prognostics of the
weather based upon high flying or low flying of
the swallow. The presence or absence of these
birds must have preponderating influence on the
prevalence of musquitoes, and I suspect that to
the absence of swallows in Arctic Norway we must
mainly attribute the unchecked multiplication of
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