286 



Passeres.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-HlEUNDINIDJE. 



and tlie gape of tlie bill is surrounded b}' short bristles. 

 The tail is more or less forked, and the feet are always 

 of the ordinary structure, having three toes before and 

 one behind. The diflereiice in the structure of the 

 sternum and trachea has already been alluded to. 



The Swallows, like the Swifts and Goatsuckers, are 

 all insectivorous birds which capture their prey on the 

 ^\'ing, and those species which frequent cold and tem- 

 perate countries are also birds of passage. Their 

 appearance in the spring, and disappearance at the 

 approach of vrinter, has been observed in Europe from 

 time immemorial, and these birds have consequently 

 been always regarded with a friendl}' eye by mankind, 

 as serving in some sort as the harbingers of the sum- 

 mer. The habit of our common species of building 

 about the habitations of man, and perhaps some indis- 

 tuict notions of the benefits conferred upon us by these 

 biids, by the destruction of immense numbers of insects 

 — many of them injurious to us, directly or indirectly — 

 have considerably increased this feeling. The ancients 

 considered the Chimney Swallow to be under the direct 

 protection of the household gods, and believed that 

 when any injury was inflicted upon this familiar bird, 

 it revenged itself by pecking the udders of the cows, 

 causing them to become dry. The Ostiaks consider it 

 a crime to kill swallows ; and in most places it is looked 

 upon as an act of iuhospitality to kill or disturb these 

 pleasing little strangers. 



With regard to the nature of the retirement of these 

 birds from their usual summer haunts, some very curious 

 notions formerly prevailed, it being supposed by some 

 naturalists th.at the Swallows concealed themselves in 

 holes and similar places, where they slept during the 

 winter ; whilst others maintained a still more singular 

 ojiinion, namely, that the birds passed the winter in the 

 mud at the bottom of ponds and rivers. How this 

 curious fancy could ever have been entertained it is 

 difficult to conceive, but it was a very generally received 

 opinion as late as the end of the last century. Never- 

 theless Frisch, a German naturalist, had long pre\'iously 

 ascertained beyond doubt, by an ingenious experiment, 

 that this notion could not be true. lie attached to 

 some swallows pieces of thread coloured with water 

 colours, which would inevitably have been washed out 

 had the birds passed the winter under water, in accor- 

 dance with tlie popular ojiinion. The birds returned 

 in the followuig spring with the thread still coloured — 

 proving that they, at all events, had not been mider 

 water. These e.xperiments, repeated by Spallanzani 

 and others, served also to prove another singular fact, 

 namely, that the Swallows generally return to the same 

 spot and even to the same nest year after year. The 

 actual migration of the Swallows has now been et 

 beyond doubt by positive observations, made both on 

 our own southern coast and on the northern shoi-es of 

 the Mediterranean ; here tliey are seen taking their 

 departure for the warm regions of Africa in the autumn, 

 and also making their way back in the spring. In 

 crossing the sea, they usually fly either singly or in 

 small parties of two or three ; and it is remarkable, 

 that they arrive on the further side in a condition of 

 exhaustion apparently as great as that of other birds of 

 (lassage whose power of wing is far inferior. The 



channel fishermen state, that in hazy weather the Swal- 

 lows very frequently aliglit in their boats when they 

 are a little way out to sea, so completely fatigued, that 

 it is with some difSculty that they muster strength to 

 fly from one end of the boat to the other when an 

 attempt is made to seize them. In fine calm weather 

 they are often seen to descend upon the smooth surface 

 of the water, with their wings widely extended, rising 

 again after a short time, seemingl}' much refreshed by 

 this partial bath. 



Like the Swifts, the Swallows exhibit great activity 

 on the \ving, and in piu'suit of the gnats, midges, and 

 other insects, which constitute their sole prey, they per- 

 form numerous evolutions \vith much grace. They are 

 very commonly seen hovering over the water, doubt- 

 less attracted by the many insects which swarm in such 

 situations. Thej' drink without alighting, by sweeping 

 swiftly over the surface of the water, and taking up a 

 little of the fluid in their bills as they pass ; they also 

 occasionally bathe in the same wa}', by plunging a little 

 deeper. Most of them breed twice in tlie season — 

 sometimes nestling in holes, sometimes building a nest, 

 usually composed wholly or in part of mud, against the 

 cliff of a rock or the wall of a building. The species 

 of this family are found in all parts of the world, but 

 they are not veiy numerous. Three species occur in 

 Britain. 



THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW (Hirimdo )•!«//«/)— Plate 

 5, fig. 13 — is one of the British species. It is a small 

 bird, for although it measures about eight inches and 

 a half in length, the tail occupies nearly five inches of 

 this, and thus the body of the bird is very small. The 

 colour of all the upper parts, together with the uppei 

 part of the breast, is black, with violet tints ; the fore- 

 head and throat are chestnut brown ; the lower part of 

 the breast and the abdomen are rusty red ; and the 

 inner webs of the tail feathers, except the two middle 

 ones, are spotted with white. The outer tail feathers 

 in the male are twice as long as the rest. They are 

 rather shorter in the female ; but in both sexes nearly 

 the whole of the inner web of these feathers is white. 



The Chimney Swallow is a very abundant bird in all 

 parts of Europe during the summer, and in some parts 

 of the Mediterranean district a few individuals even 

 remain through the wnnter. But by far the greater 

 part of our European swallows migrate in the autumn 

 into Africa, where they pass the winter, and retiun to 

 us in the spjing. They arrive in this country early in 

 April (about the 10th, as stated by Mr. Yarrell, from 

 an average of many seasons), and take their departure 

 again towards the end of October. From Europe the 

 Swallow seems to extend its range eastward into Asia 

 as far as Nepal and Calcutta, and probably still furtlier, 

 whilst in Africa it has been noticed certainly as far 

 south as tire equator ; and in Sierra Leone it is said to 

 reside all the year, although it becomes less plentiful in 

 the rainy season, from June to September. 



On its arrival in its smnmer quarters, the Swallow 

 usually selects a spot for its place of abode, where the 

 liabitations of man lie in the vicinity of water ; for, in 

 common with a considerable majority of the members 

 of this family, it has a gi'eat fondness for hovering over 

 the surface of large ponds, lakes, and streams. The 



