WELCOME SWALLOW 
217 
The name Welcome " rather suggests return 
after a migration, but the result of my observations 
goes to show that the Swallows never leave us at all, 
and are just as plentiful at one time of the year as 
another. 
They spend the greater part of their time in the 
air, and live entirely on flying insects. 
The nest is composed of mud picked from the 
margin of ponds or street channels, strengthened 
with grass and vegetable fibre, then lined with grass 
aad abundance of feathers which project above the 
nest's rim. It is placed (in the neighbourhood of 
dwellings) against two pieces of timber at right 
angles so that one forms the base and the other 
the back, the masonry of the nest being in the form 
of a semicircle. In the bush the nest is built against 
the side of the interior of the hollow main trunk 
of a tree, usually one that has been burnt. Along 
the ocean beach the Swallow commonly builds its 
nest on the walls of caves, where these exist, or in the 
small hollows which abound on the seaward face of 
the cliffs. 
The species must be one of the most numerous we 
have, and shows every sign of increase. The Swallow 
has but one enemy, the imported Sparrow ; which 
will wait till the Swallows have laid, and then take 
possession of the nest, rooting out eggs, feathers, and 
grass, and repeat this as often as the Swallows attempt 
to restore their wrecked home. And all this in a 
pure dog-in-the-manger spirit : the Sparrow does 
