300 BRITISH BIRDS. 



feathers were black, wanting the white spots; its 

 breast w r as tinged with red. 



The Swallow makes its appearance soon after 

 the vernal equinox, and leaves us again about the 

 end of September; it builds generally in chimnies, 

 in the inside, within a few feet of the top, or under 

 the eaves of houses; the nest is curiously con- 

 structed, of a cylindrical shape, plastered with 

 mud, mixed with straw and hair, and lined with 

 feathers: it is attached to the sides or corners of 

 the chimney, and is sometimes a foot in height, 

 open at the top. The female lays five or six eggs, 

 white, speckled with red. Swallows return to the 

 same haunts; they build annually a new nest, and 

 often fix it, if the place admit, above that occupied 

 the preceding year. We are favoured by Sir John 

 Trevelyan, Bart., with the following curious fact: 

 At Camerton Hall, near Bath, a pair of Swallows 

 built their nest on the upper part of the frame 

 of an old picture over the chimney, coming 

 through a broken pane in the window of the 

 room. They came three years successively, and 

 in all probability would have continued to do so 

 if the room had not been put into repair, \vhich 

 prevented their access to it. Both this bird and 

 the Martin have generally two broods in the year; 

 the first in June, the other in August, or perhaps 

 later. Swallows frequently roost at night, after 

 they begin to congregate, by the sides of rivers- 

 and pools, from which circumstance it has been 

 erroneously supposed that they retire into the 

 water. 



Not many attempts have been made to preserve 

 Swallows alive during the winter, and of these. 



