SWALLOWS 335 



swallow's nest, in a bank only about four feet high dug 

 in the spring for a bank wall near Everett's. The nest 

 is flattish and lined abundantly with the small, some- 

 what downy, naturally curved feathers of poultry. Egg 

 pure white, long, oval, twenty-seven fortieths by eighteen 

 fortieths of an inch. 



SWALLOWS (general AND MISCELLANEOUS) 



July 16, 1851. The twittering of swallows is in the 

 air, reminding me of water. 



July 23, 1851. The swallow's twitter is the sound of 

 the lapsing waves of the air, or when they break and 

 burst, as his wings represent the ripple. He has more 

 air in his bones than other birds ; his feet are defective. 

 The fish of the air. His note is the voice of the air. As 

 fishes may hear the sound of waves lapsing on the sur- 

 face and see the outlines of the ripples, so we hear the 

 note and see the flight of swallows. 



Aug. 17, 1851. The birds seem to know that it will 

 not rain just yet. The swallows skim low over the pas- 

 tures, twittering as they fly near me with forked tail, 

 dashing near me as if I scared up insects for them. I 

 see where a squirrel has been eating hazelnuts on a 

 stump. 



Aug. 4, 1855. Just after bathing at the rock near 

 the Island this afternoon, after sunset, I saw a flock of 

 thousands of barn swallows and some white-bellied, and 

 perhaps others, for it was too dark to distinguish them. 

 They came flying over the river in loose array, wheeled 

 and flew round in a great circle over the bay there, 

 about eighty feet high, with a loud twittering as if seek- 



