lIIIirNDINID.K — TIIH SWALI.OWS. ;-]:>-) 



more iiulepeiulent <»t" man than most nf its family, nwinu Iw'ii no otlifr lavnis 

 lliiin those incident t<» excavations thmimli siind-hanks, nf wliieh it avails 

 itself. The nests of these Swallnws aie ]tlai«'(l in «'\ea\ ations made l>y 

 them in the hanks (»f liver-^, clill's l»y ihe sea-shure, and similar l'a\nr;il»le 

 situations. Thesis are usually as near the surface of tlie uiound as the 

 nature of the soil jiermits to he readilv jienetrated, tlnmnh the hird has 

 heen known to work its wav ••ven ihrouuh hard «'r.ivel. Their depth varies 

 from fourteen inehes to four feet, thoULjh two feet is tlu* usual distance. 



Mr. AuLjustus Ft)\vler mentions a reurarkahle iustanee <»f sa^ariiv and 

 ])rovident forethou^dit in these hirds, not easily sepaiahle from reasnn. In 

 the town of Heverlv, in a stratum of sandv loam, iie ohserved eacli season a 

 colony of some twenty or thirty ])aii*s of these hirds. In this ]>lace these 

 l)irds never hurrowed more than two «»r three* feet. Within a mile o\' this 

 ])laee another colony e.xcavati'd a hank in whiih the layer of loam was mixed 

 with small stones. In this hank they excavated to the de]>th of tive, seven, 

 and even nine feet. Whv was there this extniordinarv difference in the 

 leni^th of Inirrows made by the same spt'cies, in situations not more than a 

 mile a])art ? The reason for this diiference, ujton examination, hecame very 

 ohvious. We "live the explanation in Mr. Fowlers own words: "In one 

 hank, where the earth was of a tine sandy loam, easily ]terforated, from the 

 entmnce to the extremity the hurrow.s did not exceed three feet in lenf(th ; 

 while in the other bank, with harder loam to work in, one hurrow was found 

 nine feet in lenujth. After examining; six holes of nearly ((pial length, it 

 ap])eared that these little hirds had sutlicient reason for extendiuLi: their lalK»rs 

 so far into the earth. In every instance, when^ they met with a spot free 

 from stones they finished their burrows ; thus showing ureat care for the 

 welfare of their enijs or vouni,^ bv avoidinif, in the stony .soil, a catastr(ti>he so 

 m-eat as would befall their treasures if bv acciilent one of these stones should 

 fall upon them." 



The work of perforation they ])erform with their closed )»ill, swaying the 

 body round on the feet, bejijinnini^ at the centre and workiui; «>utwards. This 

 long and often winding gallerv graduallv expands into a small spherical 

 apartment, on the lloor of which they form a lude nest of straw and feath- 

 ers. The time occupied in making these excavations varies greatly with the 

 nature of the soil, from four or five days to twice that nund)er. 



Their eggs are five in nund)er, ]»ure white, and when unblown have a fine 

 roseate hue. They are oval in sha]>e, larger at one end. and pointed at 

 the smaller. Their average length is .72 of au inch, autl their average 

 breadth .47. 



