102 A LONG DAY WiTH (FRE EEnRDS 
tail. He has a peculiar way of turning his 
head on one side and altogether has very 
frisky and busy habits. But he always ap- 
pears as if he was bent on doing some secret 
mischief or other, and the smaller birds make 
a great outcry when he comes their way. 
The bird can be well tamed if taken young. 
There were a good many wild pigeons and 
turtle doves in this neighbourhood. In an 
old well-tarred high-gabled barn with large 
open sides in which a few hay and manure 
carts were standing, some swallows had built 
a few nests inside the roof and as high as they 
could get. The birds had easy access to 
them through the open sides of the barn, but 
on entering had to fly upwards to the nests. 
Most of the nests were, as usual, om the rafters 
(see Part II, Plate XLIV), open, and of the 
usual pork pie shape, but two or three were 
built against the posts, and were similar in 
shape and position to those of house martins 
(see Part II, Plate XLI), with a rim like they 
have above for entrance, and all were con- 
structed like theirs of pellets of clay. It was 
