SWALLOW. 99 
marsh, ditch, or large river, is usually chosen to receive the nest, 
which is often a foot and a half, or two feet from the entrance; 
but sometimes the bird has been known to resort to a hole at 
some distance from any water. The nest, so called, seems to be 
constituted of small fish-bones, ejected from the King-fisher’s 
stomach, and the dry soil of the hole, while the eggs deposited in 
it are five or six in number, very round in form, beautifully white 
when blown, and though, from the thinness of the shell, seeming 
to have a pink hue before the removal of the yolk. 
IIT.—HIRUNDINID A. 
139. SWALLOW—(Hirundo rustica). 
Common Swallow, House Swallow, Chimney Swallow, Barn 
Swallow.—One of the most welcome of all our spring visitors; 
and so frequently coming back, the self-same pair of birds appa- 
rently, to the self-same nest, that they seem to be almost like 
members of the family returning from a temporary absence. The 
common name, Chimney Swallow, is, however, rather a misno- 
mer. No doubt they build in chimneys freely and frequently, but 
in many districts the chimney is quite untenanted by any Swallows, 
while the open roofs of sheds and barns, the under side of bridges 
sufficiently flat and uneven to afford the necessary support, 
disused shafts of mines, and the like, and even parts of unused 
rooms, or articles of furniture in such rooms, are resorted to. 
These nests are very considerably different from those of the 
Martin (to be noticed next), inasmuch as they are always com- 
pletely open above, being so built that there is a sensible space 
between the greater portion of the edge of the plaster-work of 
the nest, and the roof or other surface above; while in the case of 
the Martin’s nest, it is always built so as to be closed above by 
the eaves or other ledge to which it is affixed, requiring a gap or 
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