THE CHIilNEY SWALLOW. 139 



him his- appointed seasons, and which teaches him always when and where to move, may 

 be regarded as flowing from a divine source ; and he belongs to the oracles of nature, . 

 which speak the awful and intelligible language of a present Deity." 



The arrival of the tirst swallow, though it does not make a summer, yet betokens the 

 advent, in all its loveliness, of that bright and beautiful season of the year. Many, as 

 they see the bird, are ready to exclaim with the poet : — 



" AVclcome, welcome, feather'd stranger, 



How the sun bids natmc smile ; 

 Safe arrived, and free from danger, 



Welcome to our blooming isle ! 

 Still twitter on my lonely roof, 



And hail me at the dawn of day, 

 Each mom the recollected proof 



Of Time that ever fleets away. 



" Fond of sunshine, fond of shade. 



Fond of skies serene and clear ; 

 E'en transient storms thy joy invade 



In fairest seasons of the year. 

 "What makes thee seek a milder clime ? 



What bids thee shun the wintry gale ? 

 How know'st thou thy departing time ? 



Hail ! wondrous bii-d ! hail, swallow, hail ! 



" Sure something more to thee is given 



Than mj-riads of the feather'd race, 

 Some gift divine, some spark ft'om heaven, 



That guides thy flight from place to place. 

 Still freely come, stQl freely go. 



And blessings crown thy vigorous wing ; 

 May thy rude flight meet no I'ude foe. 



Delightful messenger of spring !" 



The swallow is known in most parts of the world. It has been called the chimney 

 swallow, from the partiaHtj' which many of them often exhibit of choosing chimneys in 

 which to build their nests, but they are usually seen beneath the eaves of our village 

 dwellings, though sometimes they may be found in the shafts of old coal pits ; and White 

 remarks that he has seen them at Sorn, in Ayrshire, Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, and 

 in other places. When they choose strange spots in which to have their " local habi- 

 tations," they appear altogether to disregard the noise and disturbance which may be 

 incident to them, yet which woidd be sufficiently alarming under ordinary circumstances. 



The nest of the swallow is formed of small portions of moist clay, which it has 

 previously mingled at the edge of a pond or ditch, which is moulded with bits of straw 

 and bents of grass into the open saucer-like nest with which aU are so familiar. The 

 eggs are generally from four to six in number, white, but sj^eckled with ash coloiu- or 

 dark red. They appear, however, glad of an occasion of deviating from ordinary rides, 

 and thus, not only are bell turrets often resorted to, but in one case the half open drawer 

 of a deal table in an unused garret was made available, while in another instance a pair 

 of swallows attached their nest to the body of an owl which was nailed against a wall. 



On the yoimg first leaving the nest, they perch for a few days on the roof of the house, 

 or on the chimney top, where they are fed by the parent birds, and where they seem as 

 if laboming to collect their scattered thoughts. Their earliest lesson is then to take 

 some short flight to a neighbouring roof or tree, and having thus exercised themselves, 

 and been fed, they gradually learn to use their pinions, and at a still later period, to 

 obtain sustenance for themselves. 



