The House Martin, or Window Swallow. 241 
The wings are of the same colour with the back. Swal- 
lows feed upon flies and other insects ; and generally 
hunt their prey on the wing : 
" Away ! away ! thou summer bird ; 
For Autumn's moaning voice is heard, 
In cadence wild, and deepening swell, 
Of winter's stern approach to tell." 
HOUSE MAETIN, OK WINDOW SWALLOW- 
(Hirundo urbica.) 
The Martin is something less than the swallow, with a 
comparatively large head, and a wide mouth ; the colour 
of the upper parts a bluish black, the rump and all the 
under parts of the bod} r white, the bill black ; the legs 
covered with short white down. 
These birds begin to appear about the middle of April, 
and for some time pay no attention to the business of 
nidification, but sport and play about as if to recruit 
themselves from the fatigue of the journey. 
Should the weather prove favourable, it begins to build 
early in May, placing its nest generally beneath the eaves 
it 
