608 mr. w. h. Hudson on the [May 7, 



of hue and structure merely serve to show that he is not a very near 

 relation of the two preceding species, those exhibited in his habits 

 remove him very far indeed from them. Progne tapera is a very 

 garrulous bird, and is no sooner arrived early in September than we 

 are apprised of the circumstance by the notes which the male and 

 female incessantly sing in concert, fluttering and waving their wings 

 the while, and seeming quite beside themselves with joy at their safe 

 arrival. Their language is more varied, the intonation bolder and 

 freer than that of our other Swallows ; the length of the notes can be 

 varied at pleasure ; some are almost harsh, others silvery or liquid, as 

 of trickling drops : they all have a glad sound ; and many possess that 

 remarkable characteristic of shaping themselves into words or, rather, 

 a fancied resemblance to words. 



The P. tapera seldom or never alights on the ground or on the 

 roofs of houses, but solely on trees. It breeds only in the ovens of 

 the Oven-bird (Furnarius) ; I, at least, have never seen a pair breed 

 in any other situation, after having observed them every summer of 

 my life. An extraordinary habit ! for, many as are the species pos- 

 sessing the parasitical tendency of fixing on other birds' nests to breed 

 in, none of them confine themselves to the nest of a single species, ex- 

 cept the bird I am describing. So soon as these Swallows arrive, each 

 pair takes up its position on some tree, and usually on a particular 

 branch ; a dead twig extending beyond the foliage is a favourite 

 perch. Here they spend much of their time, never appearing to re- 

 main long absent from it, and often, when singing their notes together, 

 fluttering about it with a tremulous uncertain flight like that of a 

 hovering butterfly. Twenty or thirty days after their arrival they 

 begin to make advances towards the oven that stands on the nearest 

 post or tree ; and if it be still occupied by the builders or rightful 

 owners, after much time being spent in sporting about and recon- 

 noitring it, a feud begins that is often exceedingly violent and pro- 

 tracted many days. 



In seasons favourable to them the Oven-birds build in autumn and 

 winter, and breed only in spring ; so that their broods are able to fly 

 by the end of October; when this happens the Swallows that breed 

 in November and December quietly take possession of the forsaken 

 fortress. But accidents will happen even to the wonderful fabric of 

 the Oven-bird. It is sometimes destroyed, and must be rebuilt ; its 

 completion has perhaps been retarded for months by drought, or by 

 the poor condition of the birds in severe weather; or the first brood 

 may have perished, destroyed perhaps by a Rat or young Opossum. 

 November, and even December, may thus arrive before some of them 

 have hatched their eggs ; and it is these unfortunate late breeders that 

 suffer from the violence of the marauding Swallows. Many of the 

 ovens I open contain the eggs of the Oven-bird, buried under the nest 

 of the Swallows ; and I have frequently witnessed the wars of these 

 birds with the profoundest interest. After the Swallows have taken 

 up their station near the oven, they occasionally fly towards and hover 

 about it, returning again to their stand. By-and-by, instead of 

 returning as at first, they take to alighting at the mouth of the coveted 



