266 FARM AND GARDEN 



done on the wing ; these birds catching their prey in the air or snatching it from 

 twigs and walls as they fly past, and even drinking and bathing on the wing, 

 scarcely touching the water with their bodies or dipping their heads beneath the 

 surface. The swallow (Hirundo rustica) is a breeding and migratory bird in the 

 high north as well as in the Sahara and farther south, and is spread all over 

 Europe and western Asia up to the Arctic Circle, and even to Spitzbergen and 

 Xovaia Zemlia. The bold and rapid flight — which when low presages rain, owing 

 to the aqueous vapour in the air keeping the insects near the earth — has more 

 dash in it than that of the martin, and is more graceful than that of the swift. 

 Tbe swallow is the first of its relatives to arrive in spring — generally in the first 

 half of April, and it leaves last of all, in November. Before departure, swallows 

 assemble in parties which roost in bushes on the shore or among the reeds, and 

 these, when increased to enormous flocks, start for Africa, augmenting in numbers 

 as they go. The swallow has a distinct call, which may be rendered whit-seep- 

 cheep,whit-see-cheepit, but its song is a soft, low warble, to imitate which many vain 

 attempts have been made, including that of the student who discovered that it is 

 Til'/ re, tu patulcB recubans sub tegmine fagi — pronounced in continental fashion. 

 The martin (Chelidon urbica) is distinguished from the swallow 



Martin. . ° 



by its feathered legs and feet, and the broad, white band round the 

 lower half of the back. It is found all over Europe, in Asia as far east as 

 Tashkent, and in Africa as far south as Natal. Martins never roost in reeds like 

 the swallows, and are moreover distinguished by the construction of their nests, 

 which are never open at the top, and are practically bags of mud with a hole for 

 a doorway. The flight is not quite so fast and buoyant as that of the swaliow, 

 and the curves are less sweeping. Martins feed entirely on insects, mostly flies 

 and gnats, and rarely wasps or bees, whose sting is said to be fatal to these birds. 



Associated with human habitations are a considerable number of 

 Bread Beetle, etc.. ii».i.-i-i. ■ 



insects ; beetles of various kinds being especially numerous. In the 



five-jointed section we have the common bread-beetle (Trogosita mauretanica), 

 which frequents heaps of corn and nuts, but is also found under the bark of trees. 

 This beetle, which has been carried all over the globe, is oblong in shape, with the 

 elytra rather remote from the thorax, and is pitch black in colour with small spots 

 and streaks, and red legs and antennas, its total length being about one-third of 

 an inch. The destructive hide or lard beetle (Dermestes lardarius), of about the 

 same size, is of a somewhat elliptical shape and entirely black in colour; its wings 

 being marked with grey, hairy cross-bands, and having three spots on either side. 

 The larva is hairy all over, and bears on its last segment two horny hooks and a 

 tuft of long hairs. This beetle, like all its relatives, draws its limbs close to the 

 body when touched, to simulate death. It lives on many kinds of animal-matter, 

 such as provisions, lard, and skins, and does much damage in tanneries. To the 

 same family belongs the fur- beetle {Attagenus pellio), which is found in houses in 

 winter, but in summer frequents flowers, where it pairs in May. Ovate in shape, 

 and covered with black hairs, it is reddish at the base of the antennae, and has 

 a few white spots distributed over the thorax and elytra ; its length being about one- 

 sixth of an inch. The larva is one of the household grubs that do so much damage 



