122 Baby Birds at Home 



air, or sweeps in long swift curves over 

 meadow and stream. 



The song is a joyous warble, uttered 

 whilst the bird is flashing through the air at 

 lightning speed, or sitting at rest on a 

 house-top or the branch of a tree. 



Its nest is constructed of mud intermixed 

 with straws, and lined with nice soft feathers, 

 and is placed on beams and rafters, inside 

 stables, barns, and sheds, or as already 

 mentioned, down the inside of a chimney. 



The eggs generally number four or five, 

 although as many as six may sometimes be 

 found in a clutch. They are white marked 

 with dark reddish-brown and ashy-grey spots. 



Young Swallows are fed by both parent 

 birds, and when they fledge, it is an interest- 

 ing sight to watch them sitting on the roof 

 of a barn waiting for food, or accompanying 

 the old birds in little excursions over the 

 fields. During these trial flights they are 

 frequently fed in mid-air. 



A few days before Swallows take their 

 departure for the winter, you may generally 

 see them congregated in flocks on the roofs 

 of houses, or telegraph wires, in the early 

 morning. 



