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, aboutids i in almost all the towns and villages of the 
WE on As soon as they arrive in May, they select 
nney for their encampment, where both sexes 
“oi together at night; and if not disturbed in their 
rendezvous, they return to it several years in suc-. 
geen, Here they may be seen in the evening, 
flying round ibid circles, till it grows dark; at 
length, as one passes over it, he drops into it as if 
dead. One after another, at intervals, follows his 
T 3 example, whirring with their wings as they descend, 
and making a sound like distant thunder. They 
spend the night on the sides of the flue, clinging 
with their claws and resting on their tails, all in 
profound repose. At the first glimpse of daybreak, 
all are in motion, and they pour out in a rushing 
volume, as if the chimney were bursting out with 
flames ; for a moment it trembles to its foundation ; 
but the swallows disperse to their several cares, and 
a 
$ it is left deserted for the day. 
T Each pair select a chimney in the neighborhood, * 
E -= taking one which appears to be disused for the sea- 
son. Their first process is to collect twigs, which _ 
they break off in an ingenious manner, grasping —— 
them with their claws, and pushing the body sud- = — 
- denly against them, by which the stick is separated. 5 Ba 
from the branch, with the end in the swallow’s grasp. 
These they glue to the side of the flue with their 
saliva, to form the frame work of their nest, which — ; 
is placed four or five feet from the top. In this 
rude basket-work their eggs are laid, without the - 
semblance of a lining. They are white, and from 
four to six in number. In wet weather these nests 
