and a day or two later they set 
out for their winter home in 
Northern Africa, the last few stragglers 
leaving by about the end of October. 
The insects which this bird devours are 
not gulped down, one by 
one, as fast as they are cap- 
tured. They are allowed 
to accumulate in the mouth 
until they form quite a 
large ball, so tightly pressed ons as to form an 
almost solid mass. Many thousands must be captured in 
the course of a single day, and as a large proportion of 
them consist of the extremely mischievous aphides, which 
are so destructive to many cultivated crops, the value of 
the bird to farmers and gardeners can scarcely be 
exaggerated. 
The nest of the swallow is made of tiny balls of clay, 
mixed with grass 
and bits of straw, 
(oe 
Z Zy, 
yas = 
