SOME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 21 



The Welcome Swallow {Hirundo neoxena Gould). 

 Gould's Handbook, vol. I, p. 107, No. 53 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 120, No. 238. 



The members of the swallow family all the world over have been studied 

 on account of their semi domestic habits, their numbers, their curious nesting 

 tiabits, and their habit of regularly migrating from the cold lands at the 

 approach of winter to follow the summer. 



Following the rule of the European swallows, our birds migrate and 

 travel from the northern parts of Australia to reach Tasmania about the end 

 of September ; after rearing two broods they leave that island for the main- 

 land in March. I have noted them about this period in north-western 

 Victoria, gathering together in great flocks and camping at night in the 

 lignum swamps for some days before they started on their return north- 

 ward. 



In the northern parts of New South "Wales and Queensland, though some 

 of the swallows migrate, there are always a number that remain all through 

 the year, as long as food supplies are plentiful. In the north and north- 

 western districts the swallows are often nesting right up to the end of the 

 year. They place their nests under iron roofs and low sheds, and when a 

 heat wave comes along, with a hot wind and a shade temperature of over 

 100 deg., hundreds of young swallows die in the nests. 



The bowl-shaped nest is composed of pellets of clay strengthened with bits 

 of grass, and forms a solid mud nest which is lined with feathers, wool, hair, 

 and other soft materials ; it contains from three to five glossy, white eggs, 

 speckled and spotted with reddish-brown and slate-grey, thickest upon the 

 larger end. 



These nests are placed in all kinds of curious situations ; the reader is 

 referred to Campbell's ''Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds" for an account 

 of the many places where they have been recorded. They are usually 

 •constructed against a wall or cliff ; but, with the advance of civilisation, 

 the birds have adapted themselves to their surroundings and now place 

 them under bridges, along the rafters of woolsheds and stables, and under 

 the shelter of the verandah of country and suburban houses. They give a 

 certain amount of trouble to the housewife by the mess and litter they make. 

 In the country it is often claimed that their presence brings snakes about, 

 and it is not an uncommon thing to see strings and paper or empty bottles 

 suspended along the underside of the homestead verandah to discourage 

 the swallows. In spite of this, their cheerful, happy chirping notes, and their 

 dainty ways as they rest on fence, clothes line, or telephone wires, endear 

 them to everybody, and few persons would kill a swallow — " it would be 

 unlucky," some people will tell you. 



The immense value of the flocks of swallows from an insectivorous point 

 of view, is hard to estimate, but they play a very important part in keeping 

 down the swarms of mosquitos, gnats, and other pests, and therefore should 

 be most carefully protected. 



