is stated to be the distant laud of the Amoor. The Individuals frequenting the latter country probably spend 
the winter in Southern China ; while those found further west, in Russia for instance, resort to Asia Minor 
and Arabia ; and those of Central Europe pass the Mediterranean, by way of Malta and the neighbouring islands, 
to Algeria. North America has a Swallow nearly allied to our own. This bird, like ours, is merely a summer 
visitant, resorting to the United States at that season, and retiring to Mexico and Central America at the 
opposite. Crossing the equator to South Africa on the one hand, and Australia on the other, we find migratory 
Swallows in both those countries, performing precisely the same offices, having similar natures, and whose 
movements, like those of the northern species, are regulated by the sun, but of course performed, owing to 
their geogra})hical position, at the opposite season of the year. 
In the antipodes, as with us, the Swallow is the harbinger of spring, and the cheerful companion of those 
who have adopted that part of the world as a home ; for, like the English bird, it builds a similar nest in 
cbimneys, barns, and outhouses, and lays eggs alike in character and markings : yet no naturalist will for 
a moment consider the Himndn neoxena to be identical with the H. rustica. 
Soon after its arrival in England, the Swallow commences the task of reproduction ; the places chosen 
for the nest are exceedingly varied : the inner side of a smoking chimney, the shaft of a mine, the rafters 
beneath a bridge, barn, or boat-house are commonly selected ; and many others might have been mentioned, 
were it necessary so to do. The nest is most ingeniously built of Avet mud, with layers of straw-like grasses 
to secure the mass together, precisely as the hair prevents the plasterer’s work from falling to pieces ; within 
this half cup of a nest, which is placed against the wall or the rafter, is a lining of fine grasses and feathers. 
The following description of the nest of this s]>ecies is by my son Franklin. 
“When fishing at Denham, on the 25th of May, 1861, I observed several fine examjdes of the nests 
and eggs of this bird under the bridge. Tbe exterior of these nests was, as usual, composed of 
mud mixed up with short pieces of hay or dried grass, with a few downy feathers of the Swan lining 
the interior. Some of the nests had evidently been constructed tbe previous year, and increased by 
the addition of an inch or two of fresh mud. They contained eggs in various degrees of forwardness, from 
those newly laid to those with the fully developed young in them. The eggs differed considerably in shape 
and marking, one set, before they were blown, being of a delicate pink, covered all over with minute spots 
of light reddish brown ; tbe others, on the contrary, were broader and shorter in form, and Av^ere of the 
same delicate ground-colour, but with a smaller number of spots, and those of a brown tint, running into large 
blotches at the broader end.” 
The young Swallows remain blind for several days ; still they grow fast, and rapidly fill the nest, their wide 
bills and bright-yellow fleshy gapes showing very conspicuously ; and about the middle of June they leaA^e the 
nest, and perch on some neighbouring bare branch on the sunny side of a tree : here they are fed by their 
parents, Avho bring them insects every minute, from morn till night. Tliere these nestlings preen their 
feathers, exercise their Avings by taking short flights round the hranches of the tree, or sally forth to meet 
their parents and receive the food in the air, as portrayed on the accompanying Plate. The young, after 
this time, begin to haAvk flies for themselves ; and tbe summer being still young, the old birds often 
reconstruct the nest and rear a second brood. I find, by my note-book, that some SAvallows Avere sitting on 
their eggs under the little romantic bridge at Formosa, near Cookham, in Berkshire, as late as the 8th of August. 
These late broods, however, I imagine, are frequently overtaken by our chilly autumns, and suffer scA'erely 
from cold ; they are, however, only the remnant of our summer Swallows. These are the birds that linger 
to a later period in the autumn, some even to October and November : perchance they have not sufficient 
strength to perform the journey across the seas; they therefore still remain. It is these birds which seek 
shelter in caves, crevices of rocks, and similar places ; here the increased cold of night benumbs their 
muscles, paralyzes their systems, and renders them torpid : still their hearts beat, though but sloAvly ; 
ultimately they get weaker and Aveaker, and, as a natural consequence, die. Under such circumstances 
their bodies are occasionally found ; and, and hence, perhaps, has arisen the fable of the supposed hybernation 
of this bird. 
The sexes are precisely alike in colour ; but they differ in size, the female being somewhat smaller, and 
having the outer tail-feathers shorter, than her mate. 
Forehead and throat deep orange-brown ; sides of the neck, back, Avings, and band across the breast 
deep bluish black ; abdomen and vent reddish white, tinged Avith brown ; tail-featbers black, all but the tA\^o 
middle ones, Avith a large white spot on the inner weh ; bill and irides black ; legs and feet purplish brown. 
The young gradually assume the colouring of the adult, from the time they leave the nest until they are 
tAvelvc months old. 
The figures represent an adult and a young bird, of the natural size. 
