THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 766.— April 1905. 



ABNORMAL NESTS OF THE SWALLOW (HIRUNDO 



RUSTICA). 



By S. G. Cummings. 



(Plate II.) 



Peculiar sites for Swallows' nests are occasionally met with, 

 and nave received due notice from time to time ; but instances 

 of abnormal nests are, I think, of so much rarer occurrence — at 

 any rate, in this country — that they are perhaps worth recording 

 in this Journal. I refer to nests built without support of any 

 kind under them, somewhat after the fashion of the House- 

 Martin, but with even less attachment. Attempts at nest- 

 building of this description by the Swallow are seen now and 

 again, but only to be abandoned as soon as made. 



In a loft at Backford Vicarage, Chester, three cases of un- 

 supported nests occurred last summer. One nest, which con- 

 tained half-grown young when I saw it on June 26th, has since 

 fallen, but two, apparently built after this date, and which I 

 examined recently, are still in situ, and within a few feet of one 

 another. One is planted against the comparatively smooth 

 surface of a whitewashed brick wall at one end of the loft, and 

 is entirely without visible support of ledge, projection, peg, or 

 nail ; the top edge of the nest is attached to a rafter for about 

 an inch at one side only (Plate II., fig. 1). This nest had 

 Zool 4th ser. vol. IX., April, 1905. l 



