124 Wild Life in a Southern County 



mortar from the roads ; a rainy day is very useful to them, 

 and they alight at the edge of the puddles, finding the 

 mud already mixed and tempered for them there. In such 

 weather they will fly backwards and forwards by the side 

 of a hedge for a length of time, skimming just above the 

 grass, when, looking down on them instead of up at them, 

 the white bar across the lower part of the body just before 

 the tail forks is very noticeable. The darker feathers have 

 a glossy bluish tinge on the black. They seem fond of 

 flying round and near horses and cattle, as if insects were 

 more numerous near animals. While driving on a sultry 

 day I have watched a swallow follow the horse for a mile 

 or more. 



It is a pleasant sight to watch them gliding just above 

 the surface of smooth water, dipping every now and then. 

 Once, while observing some swallows flying over a lake, on 

 a windy day, when there were waves of some size, I saw a 

 swallow struck by the crest of a wave and overwhelmed. 

 It was about twenty yards from a lee shore, and the bird 

 floated on the water, rising and sinking with the waves till 

 they threw it on the bank. It was much exhausted, but 

 when placed on a stone in the warm sunshine soon re- 

 covered and flew off. 



As another proof that, quick as they are on the wing, 

 they do not always judge their position or course precisely, 

 I know a case where a swallow, in less than ten yards after 

 leaving her nest under the eaves of a house, flew with 

 great force against a door in the garden wall painted a 

 dull blue. The beak was partly broken and the bird com- 

 pletely stunned : she died in a few minutes. There was 

 some one in the garden close by at the time : his presence 

 may have frightened the swallow ; yet they are not usually 

 timid where their nests are undisturbed. Perhaps in her 



