110 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



Mr. Hewitson relates a pleasant circumstance in connec- 

 tion with these social birds. " It is well known/' he says, 

 " that the Swallows will return to the same place, and rear 

 their young ones in the same nest, for many years in suc- 

 cession. A pair had for several years built their nest in the 

 wash-house adjoining a cottage near York, finding their way 

 in through a broken pane, passing in and out undaunted 

 even on the washing-day. The rigour of a severe winter 

 had made it necessary to glaze the broken window in the 

 wash-house; and on the following summer, when the swal- 

 lows came as usual, and found their ingress prevented, they 

 seated themselves upon the clothes-lines, and in repeated 

 chattering expressed their disappointment. The pane was, 

 however, speedily removed ; for the old lady to whom the 

 place belongs is a great lover of their company, and likes 

 well to hear their cheerful twittering/' 



These birds leave us in the autumn, some lingering in 

 the south of Spain during the winter, but the main body 

 proceeding to the continent of Africa. (PI. VI. fig. 27.) 



THE MARTIN. Hirundo urbica. The Martin arrives in 

 this country a little later than the Chimney Swallow, and 

 builds its nest under the eaves of houses and at the corners 

 of windows (whence its frequent designation of the Window 



