NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



and inside an old tennis shoe left on a 

 ledge in a boat-house. It is made of 

 pellets of mud generally intermixed with 

 straws and lined with dead grass and 

 feathers. The structure differs in shape 



according to the 

 site selected for 

 it. Frequently 

 it is formed like 

 half or two -thirds 

 of a saucer when 

 plastered against 

 a wall or rafter, 

 but when on a 



NEWLY-FLEDGED SWALLOW. 



outside consists of 

 a circular wall of 

 mud. 



The eggs, num- 

 bering from four 

 to six, are white, 

 spotted and 

 blotched with 

 dark, reddish-brown, and underlying 

 specks of grey. 



This bird's song is one of the most joy- 

 ous and spontaneous in all the realms of 

 Nature, and the poet might well say : 



" Thou hast no sadness in thy song." 



It is uttered both whilst the melodist 



246 



