THE SWALLOWS. 
117 
their beaks short, strong, and pointed. Mr. Johns gives an excellent account of 
their procedure. “ Grasping the perpendicular surface of the bank with their claws, 
and steadying themselves by means of their tails, they commence operations by 
pricking a small hole with their bills. This hole they gradually enlarge by moving 
round and round, and edging off the sand with the side of their bills, which they 
keep shut. Their progress is slow at first, but after they have made room to stand 
on the excavation they proceed rapidly, still working with their bills, and carefully 
pushing out the loosened sand with their feet.” The male and then the female 
take it by turns to dig. The work is performed only in the mornings, and lasts 
several days. At length a burrow from a few inches to three feet long, slightly 
running upwards, to prevent water lodging in it, is made, and five or six pure 
white eggs laid on dried grass and feathers at its extremity. When not occupied 
in these labours or in sitting, the birds spend all their time in sociable parties, 
often in company with Martins, Chimney Swallows, and even Swifts, in hawking 
up and down the streams; often flying for this purpose many miles from home. 
In old days we have seen so-called sportsmen from Nottingham shooting Swallows 
as they careered up and down the Trent. Fortunately these birds are now protected 
during the breeding season by law, and hard-hearted must he be who can shoot at 
other times birds so beautiful, so interesting, so perfectly harmless, and so ex¬ 
ceedingly useful to man. 
The Chimney Swallow ( H. rustica ) is generally our next visitor, coming from 
March 26 to April 20, says White. We should say from the 12th to the 20th 
of April is nearer the date, at all events in the midland counties. This is the 
largest of our true Swallows, and is a beautiful bird if it be watched sunning itself 
on the roof. Its forehead and breast are chestnut-brown; the upper plumage, sides 
of the neck, and a bar across the breast are black, with violet-like reflections, lower 
plumage dull reddish white, tail very long and forked. The female is rather more 
dull in her colours and whiter in the under feathers. This species is, like the next, 
strongly attached to man, and chooses a chimney, an outhouse, the belfry of a church, 
the shaft of a deserted mine, or any other dark and dry place, for its nest, which is 
made of mud and straw, is rather shallow, lined with feathers, and generally 
abounding in fleas. The first laying of four or five eggs, white, spotted with 
reddish-brown, takes place in May, but they have two or three broods in the 
season. This is the bird so frequently seen sweeping over our lawns, and no 
prettier rustic sight can be conceived than the tender solicitude of the parents 
in feeding their young ones. The latter sit on the roof of a house or on a 
