16 



more iutvepid ones may arrive some few clays earlier. By the loth of the month as 

 many as forty pairs have been counted in the dusk of the twilight, which is light enough 

 to see to read by at midnight during this season of the year. The earliest arrivals dart 

 into the usual places occupied hy them as though they were the identical birds hatched 

 there the preceding year. On their arrival they are loud in the manifestations of joy 

 for the termination of the long journey lately winged to the distant north. 



" In the spring of 1876 snow-squalls and frosty weather held until late in June. The 

 poor birds had had no opportunity to recover their exhausted condition, resulting from 

 their long flight. Many of them succumbed to the chilling weather, while others, 

 benumbed by the cold, permitted themselves to be handled and seemed to enjoy the 

 warmth given out l)y tlie hands, as they nestled closely between them, without evincing 

 any fear. 



"They build their nests on the beams projecting from the old houses and under the 

 eaves of the other buildings. Nidification begins as soon as the sun thaws the ground 

 sufficiently to allow them to obtain the mud with which to construct their nests. Alter 

 that the yard is searched for feathers with which to line it. At this season of the year 

 many game birds are killed for food ; hence the yard has various kinds of feathers in 

 abundance. The Swallows appear to delight in picking up a feather, carrying it high in 

 the air, and drop it to catch it again as it flutters downwards. Oftentimes two or more 

 Swallows will join in playing with a large feather, from the breast of a Swan. I have 

 seen one Swallow chase another, which was carrying one of these large feathers, snatch 

 it from him, only to be followed in most wonderful aerial evolutions by the one from 

 Avhich it was taken. This sport continues for an hour at a time. 



" The Russians protected this bird ; hence it seems to have less fear of man in that 

 reo'ion than in warmer climates. 



" ]My window was a favourable situation from which to observe these birds collect 

 mud for their nests. I never before knew how it was done, but supposed that they 

 picked the mud-pellets up between their beaks. I have watched them for hours at a 

 time, and when my eyes were not four feet distant from the birds at work. They 

 flew to the puddle of water and mud, stepping over the ground until they found a jilace 

 having the proper consistency, when they would look up at me as if to say that this would 

 do. The neck is stretched out to nearly its full length and the head kept with the bill 

 at a right angle to the neck. A slight pressing of the beak into the earth and a tugging 

 twist of the body gently pulls towards the bird a small pellet of mud. The bird then 

 lowers its neck to the ground with the beak on tlie opposite side of the j)ellet (or on the 

 side nest the bird). The beak is now thrust under the pellet until the mass of mud is 

 pushed on to the top of the bill and rests against the forehead. This is the manner in 

 which it obtains the mud and is in position to enable the bird to deposit it. The mud 

 is also plastered on with the top of the beak. 



" The Swallow frequently rears two broods in a single season. The first brood is 

 fully fledged and on the Aving by the 15th of July. The second brood is ready for flight 

 by the 25th of August. They remain around the Redoubt until the ISth or 20th of 



