144 SWALLOW. 



fearlessly went on with their labour, and now have their 

 young ones out. One of the windows had been for several 

 nights left down, at which time the Swallows found admit- 

 tance, and after much apparent deliberation commenced their 

 structure, which they carried on chiefly during the hours of 

 the school; and, though they had abundance of time to 

 build, either before the school commenced, or after it was 

 dispersed, yet they always preferred a few hours about noon 

 for their labour, and seemed to do little at any other time. 

 The scholars, much to their credit, gave them as little 

 annoyance as possible, and the window is still kept open.' 



In a natural state, or rather in a country where suitable 

 structures are wanting, it is very probable that rents in rocks 

 and caves are always built in. 



The Rev. Gilbert White, of Selborne, records the choosing 

 of two odd situations for Swallows' nests; one of them on the 

 handles of a pair of shears which were placed against the 

 wall of an outhouse. Mr. Jesse, too, in his 'Gleanings in 

 Natural History,' mentions ohe which he saw built on the 

 knocker of the hall-door of the Rectory house of the Rev. 

 Egerton Bagot, at Pipe Hayes, Warwickshire. He further 

 observes, 'The confidence which these birds place in the human 

 race is not a little extraordinary. They not only put them- 

 selves, but their offspring in the power of man. I have 

 seen their nests in situations where they were within the 

 reach of one's hand, and where they might have been de- 

 stroyed in an instant. I have observed them under a door- 1 

 wav, the eaves of a low cottage, against the wall of a tool-shed, 

 on the knocker of a door, and the rafter of a much-frequented 

 hay-kffc.' 



"Bishop Stanley mentions one which was built in a bracket 

 for holding a lamp in a corner of an open passage, close to 

 the kitchen door in a nobleman's house, in Scotland, and 

 though the lamp was taken down to be trimmed every day, 

 and lighted every evening, there a Swallow, and it is naturally 

 believed the same Swallow, built her nest for three or four 

 years, quite regardless of the removal or light of the lamp, 

 and the constant passing and repassing of the servants. His 

 Lordship adds, that on the opposite side of the same open 

 court, the great house bell was hung, under a wooden cover, 

 fastened to the north wall of the house. It was a large 

 bell, and was rung several times a day to call the servants 

 to their meals. tinder the wooden cover of this bell, the 



