196 A DESCRIPTION OF 
There are several species of the Swallow : the general 
characters, a small beak, but large wide mouth, for the 
purpose of swallowing flying insects, their natural food ; 
and long forked tail and extensive wings, to enable them 
to pursue their prey, belong to all of them. The common 
house Swajl^w builds under the eaves of houses, or in 
chimneys, near their top : the martin also builds under 
eaves, and very commonly against the upper corner or side 
of our very windows, and seems not afraid at the sight of 
man, yet it cannot be tamed, or even kept long in a cage. 
The nature of the Swallow's nest is worthy our serious ob- 
servation : how the mud is extracted from the sea-shores, 
rivers, or other watery places ; how masoned and formed 
into a solid building, strong enough to support a whole 
family, and to face the " pelting storm," are wonders 
which ought to raise our mind to Him who bestowed that 
instinct upon them. 
It is related that a pair of Swallows built their nest for 
two successive years on the handle of a pair of garden 
shears, that were stuck up against the boards in an out- 
house; and, therefore, must have had their nest spoiled 
whenever the implement was wanted. And what is still 
more strange, a bird of the same species built its nest on 
the wings and body of an owl that happened to hang dead 
and dry from the rafter of a barn, and so loose as to be 
moved by every gust of wind. This owl, with the nest on 
its wings, and with eggs in the nest was taken to tho 
museum of Sir Ashton Lever as a curiosity. That gen- 
tleman, struck with the singularity of the sight, furnished 
the person who brought it with a large shell, desiring him 
to fix it just where the owl had hung. The man did so ; 
and in the following year a pair of Swallows, probably 
the same, built their nest in the shell, and laid eggs. 
Modern poets have not been unmindful of the Swallows ; 
and our immortal Shakspeare mentions the martin, in 
Macbeth, in the following manner: 
