340 



PASSEBES. 



hirundinid.t:. 



HinUNDlNID.f:. 



HiRUNDO RUSTicA, Liimaeus.* 

 THE SWALLOW. 



Hirundo riistica. 



HiRONDO, Lijinwusf. — Bill short, depressed, and very wide at tlie base, com- 

 missure straight. Nostrils basal, oval, partly closed by a membrane. Wings 

 with nine primaries, long and pointed. Tail deeply forked, of twelve feather.s, 

 the outermost greatly elongated and abruptly attenuated. Legs and feet slender 

 and bare, toes rather long, three in front, one behind ; claws moderate. 



" The swallow," says Davy, in bis ' Salmonia,' "is one 

 of my favourite birds, and a rival of tbe nigbtingale ; for be 

 cbeers my sense of seeing as mucli as tbe otber does my 

 sense of bearing. He is tbe glad propbet of tbe year — tbe 

 barbinger of tbe best season : be lives a life of enjoyment 

 amongst tbe loveliest forms of nature : winter is unknown 

 to bim ; and he leaves tbe green meadows of England in 

 autumn, for tbe myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and for 



* Ryst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 343 (1766). t Loc. cit. 



