UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 145 



inch is laid every morning ; and in ten or twelve 

 days, a hemispherical nest is thus formed with 

 an aperture at the top. The shell or crust is 

 covered with rough knobs of earth ; the middle is 



O ' 



strengthened by the intermixture of straw ; and 

 the inside is nicely lined with grass and feathers ; 

 or sometimes with moss and wool. If by any 

 accident the nest should be destroyed, it is re- 

 built in a short time by the active help of many 

 individuals who unite to assist their distressed 

 companion. For several mornings they persisted 

 in rebuilding a nest at the passage-room window, 

 wh'tch had been purposely torn down each day ; 

 but, at last, after a hard struggle they gave it 

 up.. 



I understand that the cliff swallows of Ame- 

 rica who place their nests close up to the 

 jutting ledge of a rock, or to the eave of a house 

 most ingeniously arch the top, and make the 

 entrance project out and turn downwards. Fre- 

 derick, who mentioned that circumstance at 

 dinner, very philosophically remarked that, while 

 the population of Europe was steadily extend- 

 ing itself from the eastern shores of America to 

 the western side of the Mississippi, those cliff- 

 swallows were as resolutely advancing in a con- 

 trary direction. "It appears," said he, "from 

 C. Buonaparte's ' Ornithology,' that in ten years 

 they had gradually established themselves in 

 Kentucky and Ohio ; in 18 L 7 a single bird was 



VOL. in. o 



