THE SWALLOW. 49 



Cursory remarks Nests Eggs. 



quired sufficient strength to accompany their 

 companions in their journey, may alone have 

 been found in a torpid state. 



A single instance is recorded of some swal- 

 lows having with warmth and care been pre- 

 served alive through the winter, by a Mr. Pear- 

 son, of London, who, on the 14th of February > 

 17^6, exhibited them to the society for pro- 

 moting natural history. They died from neglect 

 in the following summer. 



The swallows are generally supposed to retire 

 in the winter to Senegal, and some other parts of 

 Africa. Dr. Russel says, that they visit the 

 country about Aleppo, towards the end of Fe- 

 bruary, where like those in England they breed. 

 Having hatched their young, they > disappear 

 about the end of July, and returning in the be- 

 ginning of October, continue somewhat more 

 than a fortnight, and then disappear till the 

 spring. They are found in almost all parts of 

 the old continent, and are by no means uncom- 

 mon in North America. 



This bird's uest is composed of mud mixed 

 with straw and hair, and lined with feathers. It 

 lays four or five eggs, and has two broods in the 

 year. The progressive method by which the 

 young are introduced to their proper habits, is 

 very curious. They first, but not without some 

 difficulty, emerge from the shaft: for a day or 

 two they are fed on the chimney-top ; and then 

 are conducted to the dead leafless bough of some 



VOL. iv. N<*. 25. G 



