The House Martin, or Window Sivaflow. 241 



The wings are of the same colour with the back. Swal- 

 lows feed upon flies and f other insects ; and generally 

 hunt their prey on the wing : 



"Away! away! thou summer bird ; 

 For Autumn's moaning voice is hearrl, 

 In cadence wild, and deepening swell, 

 Of winter's stern approach to tell." 



HOUSE MARTIN, OR WINDOW SWALLOW- 

 (Hirundo urbica.*) 



THE MARTIN is something less than the swallow, with a 

 comparatively large head, and a wide mouth ; the colour 

 of the upper parts a bluish black, the rump and all the 

 under parts of the body white, the bill black ; the legs 

 covered with short white down. 



These birds begin to appear about the middle of April, 

 and for some time pay no attention to the business of 

 nidification, but sport and play about as if to recruit 

 themselves from the fatigue of the journey. 



Should the weather prove favourable, it begins to build 

 early in May, placing its nest generally beneath the eaves 



