114 cassell's book of birds. 



overhanging rock ; the male birds assist in the construction of the long flask-like passage by which 

 the actual home for the young is entered, and fetch clay for the females while employed in building. 

 " Until my arrival in the colony of New South Wales," says Gould, *' I had no idea of the 

 existence of this new and beautiful Martin, nor, in fact, until I was awakened* by its twittering notes 

 at the bedroom window at the inn in Maitland did I discover that I was surrounded by hundreds 

 of this species, which were breeding under the verandahs and comers of the windows, precisely 

 after the manner of the Common Martin. Several of their bottle-shaped nests were built round 

 the house, and from thence I obtained as many eggs as I desired. I observed this "bird throughout 

 the district of the Upper Hunter, as well as in every part of the interior, breeding in various localities, 

 wherever suitable situations presented themselves, sometimes in the holes of low decayed trees, 

 while not unfrequently clusters of nests were attached to the perpendicular banks of rivers, the sides 

 of rocks, &c, always, however, in the vicinity of water. The nest, which is bottle-shaped, with a 

 long neck, is composed of mud or clay, and, like that of our Common Martin, is only constructed in 

 the morning and evening, unless the day be wet or lowering. While building these nests they appear 

 to work in small companies, six or seven assisting in the formation of each, one of them remaining 

 within and receiving the mud brought by the others in their mouths. In shape the nests are nearly 

 round, but vary in size from four to six inches in diameter, the spouts being eight, nine, or ten inches 

 in length ; when built on the sides of rocks or in the hollows of trees, they are placed without any 

 regular order in clusters of thirty or forty together, some with their spouts inclining downwards, 

 others at right angles, &c. ; they are lined with feathers and fine grasses." The eggs, which are four 

 or five in number, are sometimes quite white, or spotted or blotched with red ; they are eleven- 

 sixteenths of an inch long, by half an inch broad. 



The WOOD SWALLOWS (Atiuora) are delicate birds with long wings (in which the first and 

 second quills are of equal length), forked tails, thin beaks, and slender legs, furnished with short toes ; 

 the plumage gleams with metallic lustre, and is much varied in its hues. All the species included 

 in this group inhabit South America and Africa; they frequent woods and forests, and build their 

 nests in the trunks of hollow trees. 



THE STRIPED WOOD SWALLOW. 

 The Striped Wood Swallow (Atticora fasciatd) is a native of Brazil. Its plumage is black, 

 marked with white upon the breast and under part of the thigh ; the rump has a blueish gloss. The 

 length of the body is six inches, the wing measures four, and the tail three inches. This active, 

 lively bird frequents the forests of Northern Brazil, from whence it flies, in search of its insect fare, 

 over the neighbouring streams and rivers, and perches or sleeps amongst the surrounding trees. 



We must not omit to mention the American SAILOR SWALLOWS (Progne), partly because 

 they have frequently been seen in Europe, but more especially as they form the connecting link 

 between the Swallows and the Swifts ; they are powerful birds, with long, broad wings, extending 

 beyond the very decidedly forked tail. Their beak is strong, broad at the base, compressed at its 

 sides, much arched, and terminates in a hook ; the legs are robust, the tarsi bare, and the toes thicker 

 and more fleshy than those of other Swallows. The plumage is very dense. 



THE PURPLE SWALLOW. 

 The Purple Swallow (Progne purpurea) is seven inches and a half long and fifteen and a 

 half broad ; the wing measures about five, and the tail two and a half inches ; the centre feather 



