148 AMONGST THE WOODLAND BIRDS— 
being considerably frightened by ‘ swallows’ ; 
they were really, I suspect, house-martins. 
He began to pull down some nests with the 
aid of a ladder, when he was attacked by 
hundreds of these birds, which collected as 
if by magic. Each, as it passed. and= me 
passed, tried to peck his face. 
The swift builds in holes in high buildings, 
in crevices of cliffs, or under thatched roofs, the 
birds sometimes squeezing through very nar- 
row chinks to get at theirnests, which may be 
only a collection of dirt and débris scratched 
together; at other times the birds will 
utilize what is left of some other bird’s nest. 
The swallow chooses a rafter under shelter, 
or some platform (e.g. corner 1n a chimney), 
on which it builds a saucer-shaped nest, 
lined with feathers. Plate XLIV shows 
the nest in the Natural History Museum, 
South Kensington, which I was kindly allowed 
to take. The eggs are a delicate white, 
spotted purple-red, and are four to six in 
number. They are considerably bigger than 
house-martins’, and always have rough shells 
