or SELBORNE. 285 



sides, in the warmer parts of Europe there 

 are no chimnies to houses, except they are 

 English-built : in these countries she con- 

 structs her nest in porches, and gate-ways^ 

 and galleries, and open halls. 



Here and there a bird may affect some 

 odd, peculiar place ; as we have known a 

 swallow build down the shaft of an old 

 well, through which chalk had been for- 

 merly drawn up for the purpose of manure : 

 but in oreneral with us this liirundo breeds 

 in chimnies ; and loves to haunt those 

 stacks where there is a constant fire, no 

 doubt for the sake of warmth. Not that 

 it can subsist in the immediate shaft where 

 there is afire ; but prefers one adjoining to 

 that of the kitchen, and disregards the per- 

 petual smoke of that funnel, as I have often 

 observed with some degree of wonder. 



Five or six or more feet down the chim- 

 ney does this little bird begin to form her 

 nest about the middle of May, which con- 

 sists, like that of the house-martin, of a 

 crust or shell composed of dirt or mud, 

 mixed with short pieces of straw, to render 



