Swallow

This book is not about the species that most UK observers know simply as the swallow. The title is generic and refers to swallows (and martins) as a group. However, the barn swallow is perhaps referred to more than other species within the text, which is not surprising given that the author wrote the Poyser monograph for this species.

It is also not an in-depth study of hirundines and their ecology, although the first two chapters do cover, respectively, breeding behaviour and wintering/migration, with the latter giving an interesting account of the published evidence and studies that were carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries to support or refute the belief that swallows and martins hibernated at the bottom of ponds.

Instead, the bulk of the book, and the four remaining chapters, focuses on the relationship between people and hirundines, covering folk tales, customs and superstitious beliefs, literary and artistic references (with regular illustrations), as well as information about how humans have welcomed and helped hirundines in some areas for many generations. On the flip side, hirundines have also been exploited for medicine and for food.

The author has clearly carried out a substantial amount of research, and the book contains lots of interesting information about the interlinked history of people and ‘swallows’.

Book reviewed by Ian Woodward