154 



BIRD GALLERY. 



No. 48. S"WAI.I.OW, (Hirundo rustica.) 



Though this well-known summer visitor has been known to arrive in 

 the south of England as early as the 21st of March, the usual date of its 

 appearance is the second week in April, after which it is generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the British Islands till September and October or 

 even later. The open nest of mud, lined with dry grass and feathers, is 

 usually placed, as in the present instance, on the horizontal surface of a 

 joist, which supports the rafters of a barn or outhouse. The eggs are 

 white, spotted with lavender-grey and reddish -brown, and from four to 

 six in number. Two broods are reared in the season ; the first, for which 

 the eggs are usually laid early in May, is able to fly by the end of June, 

 while the second is generally fully fledged by September. The young 

 birds which are placed on the top section of the tiles formed part of the 

 first brood, and were still being occasionally fed by the parents when 

 these were already engaged in incubating their second set of eggs. 



Sussex, July. 



Presented by IV. R. Or/ilvie-Grant, Esq. 



No. 49. HOUSE-IMIARTIN. (Chelidon urbica.) 



This summer visitor is generally distributed throughout the British 

 Islands, usually arriving about the middle of April and departing in 

 September and October, though considerable numbers are often to be 

 seen even later in the year. The mud nest, shaped like the half of a cup 

 and lined with fine straw and feathers, is attached to some wall or rock, 

 beneath eaves or other projections, and is entered by a hole in the rim. 

 The same spot is occupied year after year, the nest, if intact, being 

 merely renovated. The pure white eggs are four or five in number, 

 and two, or even three, broods are reared in a season. 



Sussex, July. 



Presented by W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Esq. 



Nos. 50 & 51. DARTFORD \V^ARBLER. 



(Melizophilus undatus.) 



A local resident in the south of England and more rarely met with in 

 the valley of the Thames and in some of the Midland counties. It does 

 not migrate, and in severe winters, like that of 1880-81, its numbers are 

 liable to be greatly reduced. The favourite haunts are dense patches of 



