-THE LOON. 



Vol. 1. APRIL, 1889. ; : ^o. 4. 



THE SWALLOW. 



(Golden Days.) 

 (Continued from page 23.) 



The birds have not been long with us before they com- 

 mence their nests. After the site is chosen, small mud- 

 pellets are worked round centres of straw or stick; and 

 so the nest is built up lump by lump, though as is well 

 known, each layer is allowed to dry before a second is 

 added. It is not known whether water or saliva is used 

 as a cement in the construction of the nest. When com- 

 pleted, the nest is thickly lined with feathers, upon which 

 usually five eggs are laid; these arc white, spotted with 

 red and dark brown. 



The site which the swallow proper chooses for its nest 

 is usually upon a beam or rafter of a barn or shed, and 

 rarely in chimneys, as one of its provincial names would 

 seem to imply. Many and curious are the sites chosen 

 from time to time by the birds; and not least so that 



