288 NATURAL HISTORY 



marl'ijis; and with them congregates clus- 

 tering on sunny roofs, towers, and trees. 

 This hirundo brings out her second brood 

 towards the middle and end o{ Av<r^ist, 



All the Summer long is the swallow a 

 most instructive pattern of unwearied in- 

 dustry and affection ; for, from morning to 

 night, while there is a family to be sup- 

 ported, she spends the whole day in skim- 

 ming close to the ground, and exerting the 

 most sudden turns and quick evolutions. 

 Avenues, and long walks under hedges, 

 and pasture-fields, and mown meadows 

 where cattle graze, are her delight, espe- 

 cially if there are trees interspersed ; be- 

 cause in such spots insects most abound. 

 When a fly is taken a smart snap from her 

 bill is heard, resembling the noise at the 

 shutting of a watch-case ; but the motion 

 of the mandibles is too quick for the eye. 



The swallow, j)robal)ly the male bird is 

 the excubitor to house-martins, and other 

 little birds, announcing the approach of 

 birds of prey. For as soon as an hawk ap- 

 pears, with a shrill alarming note he calls 



