16 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



that owing to the amount of moisture regularly falling 

 upon the ground, they find a part of their sustenance 

 there. As one floats above the short grass the little 

 body assumes an ovate form and the tail feathers 

 become lowered. The short legs prohibit them from 

 standing anywhere other than on a flat surface, and 

 it is not unusual to have them pleasantly rise from the 

 asphalt path as you approach. Swallows gather moths 

 and other insects from the grass as they rise, noiselessly 

 hovering within a few inches, and at times appearing 

 motionless. On the 3rd of April I was interested in 

 watching 14 swallows skimming the surface of the Surrey 

 Hills reservoir. This was at 4.45 p.m., and soon the 

 active flock became 23, after which the number quickly 

 reached 70. The arrivals all came from the south, and 

 still continued until the number totalled about 200 in 30 

 minut(S from the arrival of the first group. They arrived 

 in companies of from 12 to 18. The sun was brightly 

 setting, and the weather mild. The scene above the 

 artificial lake was truly a pretty one, with the distant birds 

 of apparently small proportions and light colour, while 

 those in the foreground were large and dark, all gliding in 

 a circular form till one almost imagined the whole scene 

 was in revolution. The flock left at 5.30 p.m. as the light 

 faded, and all occurred as in an instant, and I was left to 

 contemplate, with only a faint idea that they had moved 

 northwards to their usual roosting place in a group of 

 timber. 



It surely goes without saying that everyone is familiar 

 with the Common or Chimney Swallow, yet such facts as 

 the following, gathered by the writer and an able corres- 

 pondent, Mr. George Graham, will appear as new to us in 

 the natural history of the species. 



