94 SWALLOWS. 



evil; an operation which, in these railway days, we are very familiar with. 

 This of course made sad havoc among the poor little birds' dwellings, which 

 were almost entirely destroyed. From passing the spot frequently T remarked 

 the occurrence, which took place a little before their arrival in this country 

 in the spring. The circumstance would probably have passed by unnoticed 

 further, had not a person, who worked for us as a carpenter, who knew 

 that I was curious about anything connected with Natural History, informed 

 me that a colony of Sand Martins had established themselves in a loam pit 

 in his garden. This was about the end of May in the same year, and 

 putting the two circumstances together, I have little doubt that they were 

 the exiled birds, for hardly any bred in the former spot that season;, while, 

 I suppose, the new colony could not consist of less than twenty- five pairs, 

 and the distance between the localities was about two miles. But, what is 

 more to my present purpose, the locality where they had established themselves 

 was in a small garden, close at the side or back of a house, inhabited by 

 an old man and woman, and their three sons, who were continually about 

 the place, and so far from being disturbed by their presence, the Martins 

 were extraordinarily tame; and I remember when I paid them a visit, whilst 

 we stood within a few yards of the holes, the birds would come and go, 

 and feed the young, who came to the mouths of the holes for air. 



Another singular circumstance occurred with reference to these birds, 

 which was a new fact in Natural History. The person in whose ground they 

 had built was an observant character, and told me that when the young 

 Martins could scarcely fly, or sit at the mouth3 of the holes, they were 

 attacked and killed by Wheatears. This, I must confess, startled me a 

 good deal, as I knew the Wheatear to be harmless, and an insectivorous 

 bird. However, as he said these visits were not frequent, and uncertain, 

 he would shoot one of the next intruders, and I might judge for myself. 

 Accordingly, a few days after I received his Wheatear, which proved to 

 be a Flusher, or Red-backed Shrike, (Lanius rvfus;) the mistake therefore 

 of a totally ignorant man was pardonable. But here was the fact, namely, 

 the Butcher Bird proved to be a bird of prey, which, though assumed to 

 be the case by naturalists, has seldom I believe been so directly proved. 

 I stuffed the bird, but I was a young hand; it was not cased, and eventually 

 became food for the moths. 



There is but one more kind of Swallow which I have to name, and 

 this is the Swift, or, as it is sometimes called, the Black Martin, (Hirundo 

 opus;) that is, I speak of those familiarly known to us. As a flyer, I 

 suppose no bird known has so great an extent or power of wing. The 

 webs of the feathers are very stiff and oblique in their position, and particu- 

 larly adapted for offering the least possible resistance to the air in one 

 position, whilst they oppose the greatest in another. 



