SPRING BIRD LIFE 



among the rafters. Thus the domains overlap ; 

 and, as is so frequently the case where kindred 

 species are thrown thus closely together, individuals 

 fall in love, and the chocolate-throated swallow 

 mates, and nests with the white-throated martin. 



The four species seem to be universally distri- 

 buted; with a predominance of one over the other, 

 according to 

 local condi- 

 tions. It 

 is easy to 

 see why 

 it should 

 be so. , 

 There 

 are no 

 limita- 

 tions such as 

 confine the birds 

 of the earth to the hedgerow, or the woodland, or 

 the moor ; no barrier in the air to prevent insects 

 spreading, and being as numerous on one side of a 

 fence, or a stream, or a mountain chain, as on the 

 other. All are common on the Border; all are 

 common in Sutherland. From Bute the report is : 

 " The swallow tribe seem to revel in the neighbour- 





