THE SWALLOWS 1699 



always require a ledge or shelf for its nest, for in Germany we have seen a great 

 many built in outhouses. The nest is lined with feathers and dry grass, and the 

 first brood will leave it as a rule during the last days of June, while the second 

 will be able to fly before August has expired. Some birds even rear late broods 

 during October, but the struggle for existence among the young has then become 

 very severe. The swallow lays from four to six eggs, white in ground color, and 

 spotted with brown and gray. The male in summer has the forehead and throat 

 chestnut, a band on the breast, and the upper parts steel blue, glossed with purple; 

 while the tail feathers are spotted with white, and the upper parts pink or white. 



This pretty swallow (If. rufula) spends the summer in the eastern 



portion of the Mediterranean, whence it extends eastward to the Him- 

 Swallow 



alayas and Turkestan. Many red-rumped swallows breed in Greece, 



inhabiting the mountain ranges of that country. In Palestine this species nests in 

 caves, although the birds do not consort in colonies, the arches of the monastery on 

 Mount Carmel being a favorite breeding place. The nest is a beautiful structure 

 built of the same materials as that of the house martin, the eggs being four in num- 

 ber and pure white in color. This swallow is common in warm sheltered valleys in 

 the highest parts of the vine regions of Greece and Asia Minor, where it may often 

 be seen hawking for insects in company with the swallow and house martin. It 

 cannot, however, be mistaken for either of these species, as it possesses the long 

 forked tail of the swallows in addition to the white rump of the house martin, and 

 it may be distinguished by its note, which is lower than that of the swallow. The 

 nests are built of mud, and are similar to those of the house martin, although having 

 a curious funnel at the top, the whole structure recalling a chemist's retort. 

 The adult male is purplish blue above, the feathers of the upper back being streaked 

 with white, while the rump is pale rufous, merging into creamy white on the upper 

 tail coverts; the tail feathers are blackish, glossed with dull blue, and the under 

 parts cinnamon buff. 



Some of the martins (Chelidon) have the tail forked, while others 

 have it squared ; though all have the same short broad bill and 

 deep gape as the swallows proper, correlated with great length of wing and weak 

 feet. The feathers of the rump are always white, and all the known species 

 have the metatarsus and toes feathered. Of this widely distributed genus, one 

 species is indigenous to Nipal, while another, the Siberian martin, breeds in North- 

 ern Asia, building its nests in crowded rows under the eaves of houses, and also 

 rearing its young among the crags of limestone precipices. Blakiston's martin is a 

 well-known Japanese species, which appears to pass the winter in Borneo. No bird 

 is better known in Northern Europe than the black and white house martin (C. 

 urbica], which usually arrives there during the first spring months of the year. 

 The birds which come to Britain are not the first migrants of their race; for we have 

 seen house martins nesting in Southern Europe in the middle of April, while many 

 of their companions were still migrating in squads. Most people from long obser- 

 vation have come to believe that the house martin never builds its nest in any posi- 

 tion except against the side of some building; but it is a bird which adapts its 

 habits in the breeding season to whatever locality it happens to find itself estab- 



