° F B I R D S. s , 7 
iiHh from the eye, as though it were diffiolved in 
air. 
Their nefts are generally made in holes of walls, 
Which are larger within than at the entrance: they 
prefer elevated fituations, as fteeples, and lofty 
towers, though fometimes, for concealment, per¬ 
haps, and fecurity, they build under the arches 
of bridges • fometimes too, in hollow trees. They 
have been known to ufurp the nefts of Sparrows, 
and when Sparrows have intruded into theirs, they 
have contrived means of compelling them to relin- 
quilh the unjuft acquifition. Their nefts in towns 
are compofed of various materials, of ftraw, ofgrafs, 
mofs, hemp, thread, filk, rags, gauze, mufiin, 
and the fweepings of the ftreets j fome of thefe 
they take upon the wing as they are raifed from 
the ground by the wind ; fome, perhaps, they pro¬ 
cure from Sparrows nefts, which they have been 
obferved to plunder. 
When the young are hatched, their parents 
feed them only two or three times a day. but then 
they bring them a plentiful provifion, their fwal- 
low being filled with flies, beetles, butterflies, 
and infects of various kinds; they feed too upon 
fpiders. 
Both the young and the parent birds fwarm 
with fleas. 
part vi. 
K 
(191 
