276 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



extremely wary, and I have lain for hours and hours 

 together watching a pair through my binoculars 

 without being able to discover the nest. 



SWALLOW. 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 eight and a half inches ; bill short, straight, some- 

 what flat, and black. Irides hazel. Forehead 

 chestnut ; crown, neck, back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts steely blue ; wings and tail sooty black, 

 the former long and sword-like, and the latter very 

 much forked. From several specimens examined 

 I have found that one side of the tail (sometimes 

 the right and at others the left) is a trifle longer 

 than the other ; chin and throat chestnut. Bound 

 the lower part of the throat and upper part of 

 the breast is a broad steely-blue collar ; lower breast, 

 belly, vent, and under tail-coverts buffy white ; 

 legs, toes, and claws short, slender, and black. 



The female is not so richly marked in her 

 plumage, and her tail is not so long. 



Situation and Locality. Generally, as shown in 

 our illustration, on the rafter of a barn, stable, or 

 shed. Sometimes on ledges and other projections 

 in chimneys and from walls. I recollect once 

 finding one inside an old disused mountain lime- 

 kiln. We discovered several nests in a Surrey 

 bothy last summer that were built against the 

 whitewashed wall, and were exactly like those of 

 the Martin, except that the tops were open. Un- 

 fortunately, our photograph turned out a failure, 

 arid when we returned to the district a few weeks 

 after, for the express purpose of securing a picture, 

 some farm boys had destroyed the nests. 



