6a WOODLANDERS AND FIELD FOLK 



construction of the tunnels is commenced soon after 

 the arrival of the birds, and, when completed, the 

 nest is placed in a chamber at the end of the hole. 

 The nest, usually little more than a platform, is 

 lined with soft feathers and the down of waterfowl, 

 and upon these are laid from four to six white eggs, 

 beautifully suffused with a pinky whiteness. This 

 suffusion is owing to the extreme delicacy of the shell 

 and its semi-transparency. The same rose-colour 

 occurs in the eggs of the kingfisher. When the 

 young are hatched, they are in the habit, after leaving 

 the nest, of sitting side by side upon a rail fence, 

 where they are fed by the parent birds. The food 

 at this time consists principally of gnats and other 

 ephemerae, whilst numbers of dragon-flies are also 

 taken. Seldom more than two broods are pro- 

 duced, and by September the delicate bank-swallows 

 are off to a warmer clime. We see them at evening 

 covering the buildings, the church, the willows by 

 the river everywhere; when morning comes, not 

 one is to be seen. 



The swift is the last to come of all the swallows, 

 rarely arriving before the beginning of May, and then 

 only in limited numbers. It is by far the largest of 

 the family, haunts old castles and ruins, and lays but 

 two white eggs. Its bullet-shaped body, weak 

 legs, and wide stretch of wing, all testify to its great 

 flying powers. There is something eerie in the way 



