WARBLERS 



137 



This is a common bird in the Orange Free State, where 

 i! usually builds in colonies against the walls of houses. At 

 Brandfort Station a large number of nests were usually to 

 be found clustered against the goods shed, but lately the 

 officials have taken exception to their presence and destroy 

 the nests as fast as they are built. 



The nest is constructed of mud, and globular in shape, 

 with an entrance hole near the top, and has no tunnel. 



Fig. 77.— Breeding Colony of Cliff Swallows. (Photo. R. Chambers.) 



Eggs three in number, and white in coloration, speckled 

 and blotched with red-brown and purplish-black. 



All the Swallows are insect feeders, subsisting chiefly on 

 flies, mosquitoes and the like. 



WARBLERS 



Amongst the members of the Family Sylviidce there are 

 many unassuming, sombrely plumaged little birds possessed 

 of more than ordinary architectural skill. 



