342 NOirni AMLUICAN IJIKDS. 



liiiallv Ijei'H waiiiilv liiii-d with soft div u:rns.st's ai.il tin* leathers Jincl down 

 of (lucks and ^cese. Tliis trustful ])air seeuied to know no fear. The 

 narrator often stocnl on a h»^ to watch them, with his face so near that 

 their feathers freijUi-ntly hrushed a-^ainst it is they toili'd at their work. 

 Soon the nest was coniidetcd. Five eirns were laid, which were never left 

 once uncovered until they were hat(died, the female sittinj^ the ^^reater ])art 

 of the time. Tiicv wen- fed with i^^reat assiduity hy the ]>arcnts, and j^rew 

 rapidly. In leavini; the nest, two of th<' younj.r hirds fell to the j^nunul, hut 

 Mere ]>icked u|> hy the hlacksmith, and jdaced with the others on their 

 roost in;^'-})hiee. A lew days' tiainini: taugiil them the use oi their wings, 

 and they soon after took their departure. 



Professor IJeiidiardt records its occurrence in (Ireenland, at Fiskena'.sset 

 and at Xenontalik. 



The natural hreedin!Lr-])laces of these l>irds, Lefore the settlement of the 

 country, were caves, overhan^iti^ rocky dills, and similar localities. Swal- 

 low Cave, a' Xahanl, was once a fav<»iil(' ]»lace of resort, and in the unsettled 

 iMirtions of the countrv thev are oidv found in such situations. As the 

 countrv is settled thev lorsakc; these idaces for the huildinijfs of the farm, 



t ft I »^ ' 



and their nundiers ra])idly increase. In the lur countries and in all the 

 Pacitic coast, they still hreed in and iidiabit caves, chietly among limestone 

 rocks. 



AVhere the op]^ortunity offers, they ])refer to ]>lace their nests on the hori- 

 zontal rafters of barns. I)uilt in this situation, the nests have an averag*? 

 height and a breadth of about five inches. The cavity is two inches deep 

 and threi' inches wide, at the rim. The nests are constructed of distinct 

 layers of mud, tVom ten to twelve in nund»er, and each sej>arated by strata 

 of line dry grasses. The.<e layers are each maih' up of small jtellets of nuul, 

 that have been worked over liy the birds and placed one by one in juxtaposi- 

 tion until each layer is complete. These mud walls are an inch in thickness. 

 When they are conijdeted, they are warmly stulled with fine soft grasses 

 and lined with downy feathers. When built against the side of a house, a 

 strong foundation of mud is first constructed, ui>on which the nest is enacted. 

 In this case the nest is much more elongate in shape and more strcjngly 

 made. 



A striking peculiarity of these nests is fre(piently an extm ]tlat form, built 

 against, but distinct from the nest itself, designed as a roosting-] dace for 

 the ]>arents, used l»y one during incubation at night or when not engaged in 

 procuring food, and by both when the young are large enough to occupy the 

 whole nest. One of these I found to be a .sepamte structure from the iiest, 

 but of similar materials, three inches in length and one and a half in breadth. 

 This nest had been for several years occupied by the same ])air, though none 

 of their offsjtring ever returned to the same roof to breed in their turn. Yet 

 in some instances as manv as fiftv luiirs have been known to occu]>v the 



t/ ft> X X 4/ 



rafters of the same baru. 



