OF SELBORNE. * 205 
Both male and female are distinguished from 
their congeners by the length and forkedness of 
their tails. They are undoubtedly the most nimble 
of all the species ; and, when they pursue one ano- 
ther, they then go beyond their usual speed, and 
exert a rapidity almost too quick for the eye to 
follow. 
After this circumstantial detail of the life and 
discerning otopy7 of the swallow, I shall add for 
your farther amusement an anecdote or two, not 
much in favour of her sagacity : 
A certain swallow built for two years together 
on the handles of a pair of garden-shears that was 
stuck up against the boards in an outhouse, and 
therefore must have her nest spoiled whenever that 
implement was wanted. And, what is stranger still, 
another bird of the same species built its nest on 
the wings and body of an owl, that happened by 
accident to hang dead and dry from the rafter ofa 
barn. This owl, with the nest on its wings and 
with eggs in the nest, was brought to a distinguish. 
ed naturalist as a curiosity worthy the most elegant 
private museum in Great Britain. The owner, 
struck with the oddity of the sight, furnished the 
bringer with a large shell or conch, desiring him to 
fix it just where the owl hung. The person did as 
he was ordered; and the following year a pair, 
probably the same pair, built their nest in the conch, 
and laid their eggs. 
The owl and the conch make a strange, grotesque 
appearance, and are not the least curious specimens 
in that wonderful collection of art and nature.* 
_* Sir Ashton Lever’s museum. This museum has since been 
sold, and variously distributed. 
