.\LsrS A.\0 tOu^ Ol' AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 453 



icljuikl 111 Llic saiiio place, so for the Last week they heave continued tlieir 

 o|juiiitioiis. They await tlic ai'rival of the coac-li and comnicucc at once, 

 coutinuiug theii- work each day till it stail« back to Ocean Grove at 

 lliree p.m. They then remain in tlie neighbourhood till the coach 

 returns the following day, when their efforts are at once renewed. 

 On examination of the nest, it would seem as if the poor birds had in 

 some measiue realized the situation of things, for the mud used in 

 building has more grass interwoven than usual. In a few days more, 

 that part of their work will be completed, and the next process will 

 be watclied with interest. This is the first instance we know of where 

 birds iiave taken up their habitation inside a conveyance which is used 

 six days of the week, and their only time for building is a httle more 

 than two hours each day.' 



But of all the queer places for nesting I think a note from Western 

 Australia takes the palm. Mr. Tom Carter, in writing to me, says: — 

 '■ On my return to hut from shearing-shed I found a nest of the 

 Welcome Swallow built inside on the top of a bunch of pannikins, 

 where they now feed their young, not minding us in the least. The 

 nest is on the top of three pannikins which hang from a nail. ' 



Speaking of Western Australia (in the neighbourhood of North- 

 west Cape), Mr. Carter notes, 7th February (1891); — "The last 

 Welcome Swallow I saw was a week ago. Again he records: — 

 ■■ Fii"st Welcome Swallow seen 18th July." Do the birds really return 

 so early I 1 rather think the individuals seen have never left the 

 district, or else eggs would be found sooner, because migi'atory birds 

 as a rule commence to breed shortly after arrival, and Mr. Carter has 

 not taken eggs of the Swallow earlier than the middle of September. 



It has been obsen'ed that a pair of Swallows can build 

 a nest in five days, with an additional three days to feather it. 

 Mr. Carter, writing under date 2nd November, 1895, from Point 

 Cloates (Western Australia), says: — "A pair of Welcome Swallows 

 built their nest in the house verandah while we were over at the shed 

 shearing, but I fear they have forsaken it. The nest is remarkable, 

 as being made mostly of seaweed carried from the beach half-a-mile 

 away, while one would think plenty of suitable material could be 

 procvired nearer. 



" When last over at the wreck of S.S. ' Perth,' on a reef fully two 

 miles from land, a pair of Swallows was rearing a nest behind the 

 skirting boards of a cabin. 



Mr. J. Gabriel reported he had observed a Swallow's nest on the 

 caisson of the dock at Williamstown. 22nd August. 1894 ; while 

 Mr. Le Souef found nests on the top and inside the hollows of snags 

 and logs in the Bemm River, East Gippsland. November, 1895. 



Although usually pcacably inclined, Swallows sometimes fight. 

 On one occasion Mr. William Morton. Mount Wallace (Victoria), heard 

 a commotion amongst some nest-building Swallows. Sub.scquently, 

 when the nest was completed, he examined it, and found a bird had 

 been killed and was partially buried in the mud wall of the nest. 



