BEE-EATERS A^TD SWALLOWS. 
15 
From dawn of morn till twilight has almost yielded to 
the darkness of the night do they thus float about, 
except the females, which in the hidden crevice of a rock 
or tower brood over their eggs ; the male continually 
flits by the nest of his mate, uttering a scream as it 
glides along, which the hen answers by a low murmur 
of satisfaction. 
The Swift forms its nest of dry grass and light 
straws interwoven, and held together by a viscous sub- 
stance ; it lines it with feathers, silk, and linen threads, 
picked from the ground in its rapid flight. The eggs 
are ‘white, and from two to four in number. When 
the female has sat all day, she comes forth at dusk, 
relieves her wearied limbs by rapid evolutions, takes 
a scant meal, and resumes her work of incubation. 
