156 SWALLOW. 



about 180 miles beyond the Azores. In Egypt there is a resident 

 subspecies, H. savigiiii^ with the under parts nearly as ruddy as the 

 throat. 



The nest was, no doubt, originally built in caves, and even now 

 these are sometimes resorted to, but at the present day it is usually 

 placed about human habitations or buildings of some kind ; often it 

 is in chimneys, though almost any ledge or projection will serve ; 

 while exceptionally it has been found in forks of boughs of trees, 

 and in even more remarkable sites. Mud, with a mixture of short 

 straws, and a lining of feathers and fine grasses, is the material 

 employed, and the structure has generally the shape of half a saucer ; 

 the eggs, usually 4-6, are white, blotched and speckled with several 

 shades of grey and brown: average measurements "82 by "54 in. 

 Two broods are produced in the season, but I have known even three 

 hatched by the same pair of (marked) birds, although I believe that 

 the last brood, still in the nest on October 23rd, was not reared. 

 Belated individuals are said to have been observed in England during 

 the winter months. To the extreme south of Europe the Swallow 

 returns by the end of January, and below Seville I found many 

 broods hatched by April i6th. Large flocks collect together in 

 autumn, prior to their departure for the south, and are then conspic- 

 uous on roofs, trees and telegraph-wires, especially in the vicinity of 

 water. The food mainly consists of gnats and crane-flies in spring, 

 and small beetles in summer. The soft, low twittering song can 

 hardly be described ; the alarm-note may be syllabled as feetafeet- 

 feetafeetit. 



The adult male in spring has the forehead and throat chestnut ; 

 crown, upper parts and a pectoral band deep metallic blue ; quills 

 dark bluish-green ; tail bottle-green, with white patches on the inner 

 webs of all except the central pair of feathers, the long outside 

 streamers exceeding the next pair in length by fully two inches ; 

 belly and under wing-coverts buff; under tail-coverts pale chestnut; 

 bill, legs and feet black, and very small. Length 7*5 to 8 in. ; 

 wing 4*8 in. The female has a shorter tail, the forehead less chest- 

 nut, and the under parts whiter. The young are duller in colour ; 

 the frontlet and throat are pale chestnut, and the spots on the tail 

 are tinged with rufous. The moult takes place in winter, and I 

 noticed that the birds which were breeding in the south of Spain 

 in April had not then attained the warm buff tint on the under 

 parts, which I observed later. 



