CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 



and lined with feathers, and is open at the top. 

 The eggs are from four to six in number, white 

 speckled with rusty red. The first brood is gene- 

 rally hatched about the last week in June or the 

 first week in July. The young are at first fed in 

 the nest, or upon the chimney-top : they are after- 

 wards, for a short time, fed on the wing. The dam, 

 according to White, betakes herself immediately to 

 the business of a second brood as soon as she is 

 disengaged from her first ; which at once associates 

 with the first broods of House Martins, and with 

 them congregates, clustering on sunny roofs, towers, 

 and trees. The second brood depends in a great 

 measure on the season. Should the early summer 

 be fine, the first brood is hatched early : but should 

 the summer be wet and cold, this is deferred for a 

 considerable time, and only one brood is hatched.* 



At the latter end of September the Swallows 

 leave us. Before they depart, for some weeks they 

 to a bird (observes White) forsake houses and 

 chimneys, and roost in trees, assembling in large 

 flocks. At dawn of day, when their migration is 

 decided upon, they rise en masse, and proceed 

 with a placid and easy flight southwards. Most of 

 the Swallow kind migrate ; but some stragglers 

 stay behind — probably some of the later broods. 

 These (says White) seem to lay themselves up to 

 come forth in warm weather, as bats do continually 

 of a warm evening after they have disappeared 

 for weeks. The Swallow is said to winter in 



* Goldsmith's Animated Nature. 



