Our British Swallows.



81



it fell. It was only when the birds scattered that one realised that

they were not bits of shrapnel, yet, after flying about for a few

minutes, they settled down on another tree, preened their plumage

and twittered as if nothing unusual had happened. No doubt,

having been hatched and reared amid the surroundings of battle,

they would think it strange if the incessant clash and clang were

silent, and the country once more assumed its ancient aspect of

peace and calm. Certainly they would miss the vast quantities

of insects which the battle has attracted, and which must be an.

ever abiding joy to the insect-eating birds.


H. Thoburn-Clarke.



OUR BRITISH SWALLOWS.


By Dr. Arthur G. Butler.


Although one Swallow does not make a summer, there can be

no lover of nature who does not hail with delight the first appearance

of these graceful birds on our shores. The first to arrive, either at

the end of March or beginning of April, is the Sand-Martin, the

smallest and least brightly coloured of the three ; the Chimney-

Swallow follows almost immediately, and then the House-Martin.

[I saw Swifts last year before the House Martins, on the 27th of

April, but this date was an early one. —Ed.] Even in our uncertain

climate we then begin to hope that the winter of our discontent is

really passing away.


Undoubtedly the most gracefully formed and beautifully

coloured species is the Chimney-Swallow (Hirunclo rustica) ; it is

also by far the best songster, although it is probable that many of our

members have never heard its song, but have supposed it to be

represented by the calls with which Swallows greet one another on

the wing. In my experience, the Swallow only sings when roosting,

either on telegraph-wire^ or the cross-beams of an open building, and,

as I have stated elsewhere, its song is, in my opinion, far more

melodious than that of our Linnet.


I have never heard songs worthy to be so called from either

of the Martins ; they twitter when on the wing indeed, and possibly



