826 



s\VAU.o\v 



thi- family are distinguished by their long and 



Cted win^s, long head, slender wide Mil, Mimll 

 and feet, tarsus scntellated in front, and tail 

 generally forked. They have no autumn moult, 

 nut acquire their new dress in February ; hence 

 Seebohm thinks they are a recent import from the 

 -null which, like some -link.-, have changed their 

 breeding time, Init have not \et altered their 

 moulting time. The genus Hirundo is cosmo- 

 politan in distribution, and contains almut -i\i\ 

 species. The members are gregarious, and prefer 

 well-cultivated districte and the proximity of 

 water. . They have great powers of flight and 

 perch but little, catching waif prey, which con- 

 sists chiefly of insects, on the wing. Their usual 



V 



Fig. 1.- 



6, House-martin ( H. urbiea ). 



note is a twitter, but some species sing sweetly. 

 Their nests are built of mud, straw, and feathers, 

 on ledges under eaves, on rocks, in caves, and 

 in holes in earthy cliffs. Five species are found 

 in Knrope, and tliree are migrants to the British 

 Isles. The Common Swallow, or Chimney-swallow 

 (Hirundo rusttca), is distributed in Europe, A-ia, 

 and Africa, from Lapland to the Cape of Good 

 Hope and to the Moluccas. It breeds in the 

 Orkney and Shetland Islands, and straggles to 

 Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, out does 

 not reach America. It exhibits a character com- 

 mon to many other species, in the very long and 

 deeply-forked tail, the two lateral feathers of which 

 fur exceed the others in length. The plumage is 

 very beautiful, the upper parts and a band across 

 the breast glossy bluish black, the forehead and 

 throat chestnut, the lower parts white, and a patch 

 of white on the inner wel> of each of the tail- 

 feathers except the two middle ones. The whole 

 length of the bird is al>out 8 inches, of which the 

 outer tail-feathers make 5 inches. The female has 

 a shorter tail, less chestnut on the forehead, and 

 whiter under parts. The nest, probably originally 

 Iniilt in caves, is made of mud or clay, formed into 

 little pellet- and stuck together, along with straw 

 and bents, and lined with leathers. It is open and 

 cup-shaped, and is generally placed in a MI! nation 

 where it is sheltered from wind and rain, as a few 

 feet down an unused chimney, under the roof of an 

 open shed, or in any unoccupied building to which 

 access can be obtained. Prom four to six eggs are 

 laid, blotched and speckled with shades of gray 

 iiml brown. Two broods are produced in a year. 

 Large flocks collect together in autumn before 



they depart for the south. S e bird*. proliaMy 



belau-d individuals, have been found in a torpid 

 state in winter. A popular delusion, shared in 

 by Johnson, credited swallows with liilmrnating 

 regularly under water. The Window-swallow, or 



Home-martin (//. nriii,-n, or r/nY/i/</ tni,,m), is 



another very common British species, glossy liluisli 

 black above, white l>elow and on the rump; 

 the feet coveied with short, downy \\liitefeathei-. 

 Its length is a little over 5 inches; the se\e- are 

 alike in plumage. The nest is built of mini or 

 clay, like that of the chimney -swallow, but is 

 hemispherical, with the entrance on the side, and 

 is attached to a rock, or, very frequently, to the 

 wall of a house, under the eaves or in tin- upper 

 angle of a window. Two or even three broods an- 

 produced in a season, and the old bird- ret inn 

 year after \ear to ne-t in the same spot. House- 

 martins congregate in great nnmliers, as the 

 chimney -swallows do, Iwfore their autumn migra- 

 tion, and disappear all at once. The only other 

 common Itritish species of swallow is the Sand- 

 martin ( //. ri/Kii-Ki), smaller than the two pre- 

 ceding and arriving liefore them. It has the toes 

 naked, the tail moderately forked, the plumage 

 brown on the upper parts and across the breast, 

 the under parts white. It makes its nest in sandy 

 river-bonks, the sides of sand-pits, and other sucli 

 situations (even the turf-covered roofs of peasants' 

 houses in Norway), excavating a gallery of 18 

 inches or 2 feet, sometimes 3 or even 5 feet 

 in length, and more or less tortuous, in the 



->-$?. 



Fig. 2. Sand-martin (Hirundo ripario). 



slightly dilated extremity of which some soft 

 material is placed for the reception of the eggs. 

 This wonderful excavation is accomplished entirely 

 by the bill of the bird. The floor slopes a little 

 upwards from the entrance, so that the lodgment. 

 of rain is prevented. The wind martin, on account of 

 the nature of its haunts, is someu hat more local than 

 the other British swallows ; but it is distributed 

 over most parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, North 

 America, and South America to the Amazon valley. 

 The Purple Swallow, or Purple Martin ( //. or I'mi/m: 

 jiurjturea), is a North American species, which 

 is said to have visited the Itritish islands. The 

 general colour, both of the upper and under parts, 

 is shining purplish blue; the wings ami tail black. 

 It alxiiinds in North America, and is a universal 

 favourite in the northern parts, In-ing hailed as 

 the harbinger of spring, and frequenting even the 

 streets of towns. It is a very general practice to 

 place boxes near houses for the martins to make 

 their nests in, which are very inartificial, consisting 

 merely of dried grass, leaves, moss, feathers, and 

 the like. Boxes nailed to trees are also readily 

 occupied by the Kufous-bellied Swallow (H. eryth.ro- 

 gaster), another North American species. But 

 this species, which very nearly resembles the 

 chimney -swallow of Britain, makes a nest of mud 

 and fine hay, in the form of the half of an inverted 

 cone, with an extension at the top, for one of the 

 parent birds to sit in occasionally. The Republican 



