228 The Natural History of Selborne 



Five or six or more feet down the chimney does this little bird 

 begin to form her nest about the middle of May, which consists, 

 like that of the house-martin, of a crust or shell composed of dirt or 

 mud, mixed with short pieces of straw to render it tough and 

 permanent ; with this difference, that whereas the shell of the martin 

 is nearly hemispheric, that of the swallow is open at the top, and 

 like half a deep dish : this nest is lined with fine grasses, and feathers, 

 which are often collected as they float in the air. 



Wonderful is the address which this adroit bird shows all day 

 long in ascending and descending with security through so narrow a 

 pass. When hovering over the mouth of the funnel, the vibrations 

 of her wings acting on the confined air occasion a rumbling like 

 thunder. It is not improbable that the dam submits to this in- 

 convenient situation so low in the shaft, in order to secure her 

 broods from rapacious birds, and particularly from owls, which 

 frequently fall down chimneys, perhaps in attempting to get at 

 these nestlings. 



The swallow lays from four to six white eggs, dotted with red 

 specks ; and brings out her first brood about the last week in June, 

 or the first week in July. The progressive method by which the 

 young are introduced into life is very amusing ; first, they emerge 

 from the shaft with difficulty enough, and often fall down into the 

 rooms below: for a day or so they are fed on the chimney-top, 

 and then are conducted to the dead leafless bough of some tree, 

 where, sitting in a row, they are attended with great assiduity, and 

 may then be called perchers. In a day or two more they become 

 flyers^ but are still unable to take their own food ; therefore they 

 play about near the place where the dams are hawking for flies ; 

 and, when a mouthful is collected, at a certain signal given, the dam 

 and the nestling advance, rising towards each other, and meeting 

 at an angle ; the young one all the while uttering such a little quick 

 note of gratitude and complacency, that a person must have paid 

 very little regard to the wonders of Nature that has not often 

 remarked this feat. 1 



1 It needs so quick an eye to observe this habit, however, that many people 

 accustomed to note facts of such an order may easily overlook it. ED. 



