Lazzaro Spallanzani e i rondoni.

Lazzaro Spallanzani (Scandiano, 1729-Pavia, 1799) was a scholar with many interests, from classical literature to law, until he eventually dedicated himself completely to the study of natural history. He was interested in several scientific disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, volcanology and, of course, biology, botany, physiology, anatomy and zoology. In his role as professor at the University of Pavia (Italy), he enterprised numerous journeys and carried out intense field surveys and laboratory analyses. In his correspondence with Italian and foreign scholars and in his publications he left a considerable heritage of discoveries and insights, among which the famous experiments on sterilization, which were later reconsidered by Pasteur. In addition, he had several intuitions on the physiology of artificial, animal and human digestion, animal reproduction and biology of marine organisms; he also carried out experiments which led him to hypothesize that bats used a “new sense”. His keen interest in some animal species is less known, although his research was thorough and in depth. On this subject, he wrote a series of booklets on three species of swallows and two of swifts (the Common Swift and the Alpine Swift), on the Scops Owl and on Eels, as witnessed by tome VI (1797) of his book entitled Viaggi alle Due Sicilie e in alcune parti dell’Appennino (1792, 1793, 1795). His Viaggi became a very successful book with several editions; it was also translated into French, English and German, although his specific booklets are found only in two French editions. This paper takes into account mainly the two booklets by Spallanzani on the two species of swifts and their relationships with swallows. His investigation approach was very modern for those times, considering that he carried out ringing and recapture activities to demonstrate the fidelity of reproductive swifts and swallows to their original nests when they return from their wintering quarters. Finally, the comparative review of Spallanzani’s scientific articles is accompanied by the English translation of the two booklets on swifts in order to provide naturalists and ornithologists with the interesting and well-documented remarks, which contributed to the fame of one of the most renowned naturalists of the 18th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]