SWALLOW. 
259 
nesfc, for many years in succession. A pair had, for 
several years, built their nest in the wash-house adjoin¬ 
ing a cottage near York, finding their way in through a 
broken pane, passing in and out undaunted even on the 
washing-day. The rigour of a severe winter had made 
it necessary to glaze the broken window in the wash¬ 
house; and on the following summer, when the Swallows 
came as usual, and found their ingress prevented, they 
seated themselves upon the clothes-lines, and in repeated 
chattering expressed their disappointment. The pane 
was, however, speedily removed ; for the old lady to 
whom the place belongs is a great lover of their com¬ 
pany, and likes well to hear their cheerful twittering. 
The Swallow makes its nest in our chimneys, in barns, 
out-houses, and sheds, fixing it upon the cross-beams and 
against those that support the roof; occasionally, also, in 
the shaft of a deserted coal-pit. I have seen the nest 
against a door, which was daily opened many times, and 
yet the poor bird continued to sit till the nest was 
shaken down and destroyed, and even built a second 
time, and shared the same fate. Mr. Yarrell gives a 
figure of a nest of this species, which was built upon 
the bough of a sycamore-tree, hanging low over a pond. 
The nest of the Swallow is similar to that of the house 
martin, with the exception of its being open at the top; 
it is made of the same materials, mud and clay, rendered 
more adhesive by mixing with it small pieces of straw; 
it is lined with dry grass and feathers, and contains four 
or five eggs, always readily known from those of any 
other species of bird. 
The variety which I have drawn at figure 4, was sent 
me by Mr. J. W. Johnston, of Dumfries, under the belief 
that it is an egg of the house-martin. As Mr Johnston 
has no positive evidence to confirm this belief, I have 
