THi: OAPINa-BILLES PEROHEBS 26J 



will assist in repairing a nest if it has unfortunately sustained any 

 injury. Swallows resemble sparrows in discovering a strong 

 attachment to the dwellings of human beings, where they build 

 their nests in the corners of windows, under the eaves, and in old 

 chimneys. From year to year they will build in the same place. 

 It is striking, that though they migrate to distant nations, they 

 will return next season exactly to the same spot they had leftj 

 thus discovering on the one hand a remarkable instinct, and on 

 the other a strong attachment to the place of their nativity. In 

 spring and summer they take up their abode in temperate climates, 

 and in harvest and winter they retire to warmer, and are said to 

 breed in both. It appears an authenticated fact, that great num- 

 bers of them continue in cold countries during the winter in a 

 beniunbed state. They have been found in such circumstances 

 in clusters in holes of walls, banks of rivers, and even under 

 water in marshes and lakes. 



The Chimney Martin or Swallow is the most common 

 of its family, and too well known to need much description. When 

 skimming over ponds or rivers in search of insects, the snap with 

 which it closes its bill may easily be heard. It also dashes up the 

 water with its wings, which action gave rise to the opinion that 

 swallows passed the winter under water, and rose in the spring. 

 It may be easily caught with a rod and line baited with a fly, after 

 the manner of anglers. It breeds twice in the year, building a 

 nest of mud against a wall or other convenient situation, and lay- 

 ing five very pale pink eggs, spotted with reddish brown, the pink 

 of which vanishes when the egg is emptied of its contents, as it is 

 caused by the light passing through the yolk, and has to be re- 

 newed by artificial means if the egg is placed in a collection. The 

 same is the" case with most small light-colored eggs. The bird 

 appears regularly to return, year by year, to its old nest. The 

 whole of its upper surface is a deep purplish black, its forehead 

 and throat chestnut. 



The Sea Swallow The characteristic marks of the Sea 



Swallow are as follows : The bill is straight, slender, and pointed ; 

 the wings are of a very considerable length ; the tail is forked ; 



