122 Transactions of tlie [Sess. 



and many white downy feathers floated down the river. These the 

 birds caught in their flight and carried up into the air, evidently for 

 mere amusement, as one would repeatedly release a feather and 

 another catch it before it touched the water. This pleasing game 

 continued for some time, and was observed with much interest by 

 many spectators on the bridge. It was very interesting to notice 

 with what unerring activity and adroitness the birds caught the 

 feathers in their flight, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy their amus- 

 ing and sprightly game. 



The true Swallow, or Chimney Swallow, as it is called, is readily 

 distinguished from every other species by its long forked tail ; and it 

 has, moreover, a very pleasing warble, ending with a long-drawn-out 

 note, and in the early summer it often sings on the wing. The 

 earliest date at which I have ever seen it in Scotland was on the 16th 

 of April in the present year, when one flew over my head as 1 was 

 returning from church ; and the latest date I ever saw a Swallow in 

 England was on the 5th November. There are, however, instances 

 recorded of their having been seen as late as December, but never in 

 any numbers. I once witnessed a very sad sight as regards this 

 species, — I forget the exact year, but I think it was about 1860, — after 

 genial weather in April it became at the end of the month excessively 

 cold and stormy, and one day, when fishing at Combe Abbey in 

 "Warwickshire, I noticed many dozens of poor Swallows lying dead in 

 the boat-house. The keeper informed me that they had perished 

 there from cold and hunger. It was, I assure you, to a lover of 

 birds, a melancholy sight, and, we will hope, one of very rare occur- 

 rence. The Swallow usually fixes its mud nest on a beam in an out- 

 house, and returns regularly to the same spot for years. There is 

 every year a nest under the portico of a large house at Blackford, the 

 proprietor of which is most careful in protecting them from interfer- 

 ence. The strangest place I have ever heard for a Swallow to build 

 her nest, was on a beam fifteen fathoms down the shaft of a coal-mine. 



The Swift is the largest of our four common species, with great 

 length of wing and power of flight, and readily known by its 

 uniform dark-brown colour. It does not make its nest of mud, 

 but builds in holes in walls, and often under a thatched cottage 

 roof. It is the latest to arrive and the earliest to depart, coming 

 in May and leaving in August or at the beginning of September. 

 I once caught one of these birds while fishing with tlie natural 

 May-fly. It drew out in its flight a considerable length of line, but 

 I soon brought it to the ground, and found the small hook had pene- 

 trated through only a minute portion of skin inside the beak : this 

 I severed carefully with a penknife, and gave the bird its liberty, 

 happily very little injured. Swifts seldom or never settle on the 

 ground, but perform all their functions on the wing, even to 

 the propagation of the species, and collecting materials for their 



