340 



PASSERES. 



HlRUNDO RUSTICA, 



THE SWALLOW. 



Hirundo rustica. 



HIRUNDO, Linnceus-\: Bill short, depressed, and very wide at the base, com- 

 missure straight. Nostrils basal, oval, partly closed by a membrane. Wings 

 with nine primaries, long and pointed. Tail deeply forked, of twelve feathers, 

 the outermost greatly elongated and abruptly attenuated. Legs and feet slender 

 and bare, toes rather long, three in front, one behind ; claws moderate. 



" THE SWALLOW," says Davy, in his ' Salmonia,' "is one 

 of my favourite birds, and a rival of the nightingale ; for he 

 cheers ray sense of seeing as much as the other does my 

 sense of hearing. He is the glad prophet of the year the 

 harbinger of the best season : he lives a life of enjoyment 

 amongst the loveliest forms of nature : winter is unknown 

 to him ; and he leaves the green meadows of England in 

 autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and for 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i, p. 343 (1766). f Lor., dt. 



