30 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS 
Family—HIRUNDINIDE. 
THE SWALLOW. 
Flirundo rustica, WANN. 
HE Swallow breeds throughout the greater part of Europe, Asia, north of 
the great mountain ranges, and Northern Africa: in winter it has been 
obtained all over India, to Burma and Malaysia, and throughout Africa: exceptional 
cases of its occurrence in East Finmark, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla have been 
recorded. 
Throughout Great Britain the Swallow is generally distributed, although it is 
said rarely to breed in Shetland, and never in the Outer Hebrides. According to 
Capt. Feilden it is common in the Feeroes, in May, but is not known to nest 
there. At the season of migration the Swallow collects into flocks, and Mr. Fro- 
hawk, in September (about the 28th or 30th), counted 113 sitting on one stretch 
of telegraph wire at Buckland, in South Devon. 
In adult plumage this species has the forehead chestnut, upper parts prussian- 
blue, wings and tail brown, with the outer webs of the feathers bluish-green: the 
inner web of the innermost greater wing-covert greyish-white; all the tail-feathers 
excepting the central pair, with white patches on the inner webs: under parts 
almost white, the throat chestnut; a belt of prussian-blue across the breast; under 
wing-coverts and belly buffsh; bill and feet black; iris hazel. The female chiefly 
differs from the male in the shorter tapering outer tail feathers, somewhat duller 
colouring, whiter under parts, and narrower breast-belt. Young birds are duller, 
with the chestnut portions paler, and the spots on the tail somewhat rufous. 
It is believed that the Swallow pairs for life, and it is certain that it returns 
year after year to the same breeding spot, sometimes even utilizing the previous 
year’s nest; it is naturally a gregarious bird; though perhaps not so much so as 
the House- and Sand-Martins; where one nest occurs, in chimney, barn, or out- 
house, there are sure to be three or four close by, but I never observed more than 
half a dozen or so, even in the largest barn, whereas it is not unusual to see eight 
or ten nests of the House-Martin under the eaves of a House, whilst the occupied 
burrows of Sand-Martins in a single sand-bank frequently number from twenty to 
thirty. 
The favourite haunts of the Swallow are country villages, hamlets, or even 
