82 MY NATURE NOTEBOOK. 



A MODEL FLYING MACHINE. 



In flight the swallow appears black, and although 

 you may see something of the beauty of its colouring 

 in the sunlight, when it has settled near, you cannot 

 realize what a dainty jewel in feathers is this that 

 comes so far from over sea to nest or, too often, to 

 die in England, until you have it in your hand. The 

 glossy blue of its back, shading gradually to black 

 on wings and tail, harmonizes so perfectly with the 

 auburn forehead and throat, which is again encircled 

 with steely blue, contrasting clearly with the whitish 

 buff of its underside, while the outspread tail of 

 black, with windows of white on every feather, recalls 

 in hue and dainty outline the " swallowtail " butter- 

 flies of the sunny lands from which it came to die in 

 our cold, dull spring. But the chief beauty almost 

 of the swallow is its shape. The tiny legs and feet, 

 which cause its shuffling gait in walking, scarcely 

 break the tapering outline of its body, which, with 

 long knife-bladed wings, seems, from the pointed tip 

 of the tiny beak to the tendril-feathers which quiver 

 on each side of its tail, the very ideal of an aerial 

 missile. 



MORTALITY OF BIRDS. 



From its perfect outline and great expanse of 

 sharp-cut wing it is more than seven inches in 

 length, with a wing-spread of almost a foot, and 

 weighs a fraction of an ounce one can understand 

 not only how the swallow manages to fly with the 



