5 22 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
festly unwilling to cross the hills until the clouds had lifted. Unless interfered 
with, the swallows that come to England build their mud-nests in the same corners 
many successive years, the nest being generally placed in a situation which affords 
some support. Nests in trees are very rare; yet the bird does not always require 
a ledge or shelf for its nest, as in Germany we have seen a good many built in 
outhouses. The nest is lined with feathers and dry grass: and the first brood 
CHIMNEY-SWALLOW AND HOUSE-MARTIN (J liat. Size). 
will leave it as a rule during the last days of June, while the second broods are 
able to fly before August has expired. Some birds even rear late broods during 
October, but the struggle for existence among the young has then become very 
severe. The swallow lays from four to six eggs, white in ground-colour, and 
spotted with brown and grey. The male in summer has the forehead and throat 
chestnut, a band on the breast, and the upper - parts steel - blue, glossed with 
purple; while the tail-feathers are spotted with white, and the under-parts pink 
or white. 
