WHITE-RUMPED SWALLOW. 587 



some quiet glade or valley, amongst the cows grazing in the 

 meadow, or the lambs at play on the hillside. If the day is 

 warm, they will dip their snowy breasts in the glassy water, 

 and then perch on a paling or housetop, and preen their fea- 

 thers. They frequently enter their nest, where they twitter 

 or warble incessantly. If I recollect right, their song may be 

 syllabled thus : chir-r-ruee, chur-r-ruee, ruee, ruee. When 

 incubation commences, I suspect that the male feeds his mate, 

 as he frequently visits her, and then the twittering generally 

 subsides for a short time. About sunset I have frequently 

 found the nest deserted ; so it is probable that she then takes 

 some recreation, and stretches her wearied limbs. In two in- 

 stances which came under my observation, twenty-six days 

 elapsed between the finishing of the nest and the appearance 

 of the young, which is announced by the broken egg shells 

 and their exuvia wrapt in its tough kind of jelly, both of which 

 the birds drop over the side. After the lapse of some days 

 the young perform a somewhat similar operation for them- 

 selves. Their wants are supplied with unwearied assiduity. 



" On the 5th of August, having a little spare time, I devoted 

 it to the observation of a pair of these birds feeding their two 

 young ones. In half an hour at noon, they fed them twenty- 

 two times. The old birds sometimes clung to the entrance, 

 and at other times entered the nest. They were welcomed 

 with an incessant cheep cheep. Part of the food is apparently 

 carried in the oesophagus, and it requires considerable muscu- 

 lar effort to disgorge it. They retired to roost about 8 p. m. 

 The monotonous call of the young, heard for about an hour 

 afterwards, is occasionally relieved by the gentle twitter from 

 the parents. On the 19th of August, in the course of an hour 

 in the afternoon, the young were fed nineteen times. The 

 young one whose turn it was to be fed sat in the entrance, to 

 which the parent clung when feeding them. Should any por- 

 tion of food remain about the bill of the young, or drop from 

 its mouth, it is instantly seized by its companions. I have fre- 

 quently observed young Martins nibbling the walls of their 

 home, as if to procure sand to aid digestion. The following 

 morning, about eight o'clock, immediately after my return 



