THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 
589 
true that all weaker parts are thoroughly overhauled 
and carefully repaired, and the whole structure put into 
good order. Thus in the spring the pair have little to do 
beyond clearing out the cobwebs and rotten lining, and to 
line the nest afresh: in this way it happens that those 
birds which find their old nests intact always lay earlier 
than the young birds who have a nest to build, even 
though these assiduous labourers manage to complete 
the edifice in six days. The eggs, from four to six in 
number, are small and white, tinged with yellow,—the 
colour of the yolk being seen through the semi-transparent 
shell; this ground is thickly spotted with reddish brown. 
The task of incubation is carried on solely by the female, 
while the male furnishes her with the necessary food, 
though when the weather is bad she is forced to go and 
forage for herself; in this way the time required for 
hatching out the young varies very much. When the 
weather is favourable twelve days are sufficient; when, 
however, on the contrary, it is stormy and cold, the 
process will often occupy some seventeen days. When 
first hatched the young are thinly covered with long, 
gray down; the beak has a very wide gape, always 
edged with yellow; in a few days they improve vastly in 
appearance, and already push their little heads above the 
margin of the nest. As soon as they are nearly ready to 
fly they may be seen happily grouped together round the 
edge of the nest, awaiting the arrival of the old birds, and 
ready to take the food immediately it appears. 
A family of little Swallows is a winsome sight! The 
harmless, tiny creatures peep so prettily and innocently 
from the nest, and look so joyously out on the world 
before them, seeming to take such interest in what the 
labourers are doing in the vicinity of the nest, that one 
