278 SWALLOW. 



making the nest of mud, mixed with straw, and hair, lining it with 

 feathers, and lays four or five white eggs, speckled with rusty red, 

 and each weighing about thirty grains.* It is known sometimes to 

 make the nest in some outbuilding, and I once saw it placed on the 

 end of a beam, which projected from a barn. It has been observed, 

 that Swallows annually return to the same haunts ; two instances of 

 which, among many others, have occurred to our notice ; the one in 

 the Museum of Sir Ashton Lever, in which the nest of a Swallow 

 was made on the dead body of an Owl, nailed against a barn ; after 

 the young were flown, curiosity prompted the owner to take the owl 

 away, and to substitute in its stead a large Conch Shell ; and the 

 following season, the same pair of birds made a nest upon the shell ; 

 both of which were exhibited at the Museum. A second instance 

 was at Camerton Hall, near Bath, where a pair of Swallows built 

 their nest on the upper part of the frame of an old picture, over the 

 chimney; coming through a broken pane in the window of the room ; 

 and this for three successive years, and no doubt would have conti- 

 nued so to do, if the room had not been put into repair, which 

 prevented their access to it. 



Much has been said concerning the migration of the Swallow 

 Tribe, and many strained conjectures have been advanced concerning 

 their non-departure from this kingdom ; but in respect to their laying 

 themselves up in hollow trees, immersing into ponds, &c. the bare 

 recital, however brief, would take up too much room in this place, 

 yet that a single one does now and then appear out of season, is 

 incontestible ; and that a few may remain even through the winter 

 cannot be denied,f this fact having been related to us by persons of 



* Orn. Diet. f " In the latter end of August, 1779, some boys beat down 



" a Martin's nest, with young. The birds built anew for another brood, which had but 

 " just learned the use of their wings, when their congeners took leave. Several times in the 

 " course of the winter I have seen sometimes one, sometimes two, flying about when the 

 " weather was mild, and the sun shined warm ; and after the 25th of March the}' were con- 

 " stantly to be seen on fine days."— .E.Tfmcf of a Letter from the late Mr. Bolton, near 

 Halifax, Yorkshire, August 30, 1794. 



