Q 01/05

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who beats the bridgekeeper by asking about a swallow's airspeed?

A) King Arthur

B) Sir Lancelot

C) Sir Galahad

D) Sir Bedevere

Answer · why

A) King Arthur

King Arthur asks which kind of swallow is meant, and the stumped bridgekeeper is thrown into the gorge himself. In Britain the barn swallow is simply ...

Q 02/05

In legend, the barn swallow got its forked tail after stealing what from the gods for people?

A) Thunder

B) Fire

C) Gold

D) Wine

Answer · why

B) Fire

Fire was the prize, and in the tale an angry god hurled a burning brand after the thief, singeing away the bird's middle tail feathers.

Q 03/05

Which African freshwater fish has been recorded leaping out of the water to snatch barn swallows?

A) Nile perch

B) Tigerfish

C) African lungfish

D) Vundu catfish

Answer · why

B) Tigerfish

Tigerfish normally eat other fish, but one dam population was confirmed grabbing swallows as they swooped low over the lake after insects.

Q 04/05

Among which group of travellers is a swallow tattoo a traditional symbol of a safe return home?

A) Pilgrims

B) Soldiers

C) Airmen

D) Sailors

Answer · why

D) Sailors

Sailors earned one swallow after 5,000 nautical miles at sea and a second after 10,000, honouring a fellow wanderer that always finds its way back.

Q 05/05

The hat trade's toll on barn swallows inspired an 1886 essay that led to which conservation group?

A) Sierra Club

B) Wilderness Society

C) Audubon Society

D) Ducks Unlimited

Answer · why

C) Audubon Society

The first Audubon Society followed naturalist George Bird Grinnell's editorial in Forest and Stream, though the killing of egrets usually gets the cre...