568 HIRUNDO RUSTICA. 



dots and specks, which are more numerous at the large end, and 

 sometimes form a broad circle there. They are generally hatched 

 from the first to the fifteenth of June ; and sometimes a second 

 brood is raised. The largest specimen in my possession is ten 

 and a half twelfths long, the smallest nine twelfths. 



For the following excellent description of the habits of this 

 bird, as observed in East Lothian, I am indebted to Mv Hepburn. 



" One of the few ornithological facts noted by our rustics is 

 the appearance of the Red-fronted Swallow, which usually ar- 

 rives in the third week of April, at the village of Linton, where 

 most of them remain for some weeks, till the increasing warmth 

 peoples the air with their prey, and the calls of love prompt them 

 to disperse. Some betake themselves to their old nests, while the 

 rest look out for suitable places in which to rear their young. 

 It is not until the middle of May that they appear about our 

 farmery, where they immediately commence a survey of the 

 stables, byres, cattle-sheds, and outhouses, clinging to the 

 beams, rafters, or walls ; a few hours, sometimes two or three 

 days, being thus occupied. It appears to me that this species 

 is not nearly so capricious as th6 White-rumped, which often 

 abandons its newly commenced or even half finished nest, but 

 proceeds steadily with its work. In the intervals of labour, 

 they may be seen perched on the roofs, chimney-tops, walls, 

 railings, or even trees. In the pasture fields, where thousands 

 of insects are disturbed by the cattle, how beautifully they 

 skim along, at times seeming bent on launching far into the 

 liquid void, but with an easy and graceful turn shooting back 

 to the spot which they left a moment before. The males war- 

 ble at intervals, and sometimes sailing on stiffened pinions utter 

 a guttural and grating kind of note. Having allayed their 

 hunger, they return to their nests, dancing gaily along. How 

 amorously modulated are the notes of the male : — tc/tit, whit, 

 ivkeet, tcheet^ Mee-hu, Jclee-hu ! The female shoots ahead, her 

 mate strives in vain to overtake her, their speed is redoubled, 

 forward they dash with such rapidity that the eye follows them 

 with difficulty, as they glance round the tall chimney of the 

 steam-engine, the tree-tops, and the pillars of the cattle-sheds. 

 The chase is o'er, the feast and song are ended ; they now di- 



