THE SWALLOWS. 353 



it not only breeds under the eaves of houses, but in immense 

 colonies in the face of precipitous cliffs. -Migrates. 



Though we in England set little value on this bird, such 

 is not the case in the more northern parts of Scandinavia, 

 where those pests, the mosquitoes, literally swarm ; for 

 knowing the destruction the martin causes amongst them, 

 the inhabitants not only protect it in every way, but very 

 commonly fasten great numbers of scroll-shaped pieces of 

 bark of the birch-tree, somewhat resembling the sparrow- 

 pots in use with us, to the sides of their habitations, for the 

 bird to breed in. 



" One day when at Juckasjarvi, in Lapland," says M. 

 Malm, " I took it into my head to examine a number of 

 martins' nests of the preceding year attached to the walls of 

 the church. Some were empty, but in just as many I found 

 half-grown young ones lying in precisely the same position 

 as when alive. One sees from this that the parents do 

 not always take their progeny along with them when they 

 migrate ; but in consequence of the sudden setting in of the 

 winter, are necessitated to leave their beloved offspring to 

 perish of hunger and the severe climate of the north." 



The Bank Martin (Strand-Svala, or Strand-Swallow, Sw. ; 

 H. riparia, Linn.) was also common with us, as well as 

 everywhere eke in Sweden and Norway. M. Malm met 

 with it, indeed, on the banks of the Tana, which empties 

 itself into the Icy Sea. As its name would denote, it chiefly 

 breeds in sand-banks. Migrates. 



From its wonderfully keen sight, the swallow is, to a 

 certain extent, the guardian of the poultry, or other birds 

 that may be about the homestead ; for so soon as it is aware 

 of a predaceous bird, it announces the presence of the enemy 



VOL. II. A A 



