OF SELBOllNE. 317 



martin, into the close crowded part of the 

 town. . 



The Swedes have bestowed a very perti- 

 nent name on this swallow, calling it rin^- 

 swala, from the perpetual rings or circles 

 that it takes round the scene of its nidifi- 

 cation. 



Swifts feed on coleoptera, or small beetles 

 with hard cases over their wings, as well 

 as on the softer insects ; but it does not 

 appear how they can procure gravel to 

 grind their food, as swallows do, since they 

 never settle on the ground. Young ones, 

 over-run with hippoboscce^ are sometimes 

 found, under their nests, fallen to the 

 ground ; the number of vermin rendering 

 their abode insupportable any longer. They 

 frequent in this village several abject cot- 

 tages: yet a succession still haunts the same 

 unlikely roofs : a good proof this that the 

 same birds return to the same spots. As 

 they must stoop very low to get up under 

 these humble eaves, cats lie in wait, and 

 sometimes catch them on the wing. 



On the fifth of July, 1775, I again un- 



