424 Mr. E. Adams on the Birds of Michalaski. 
relining the old one&. The nest is hnilt entirely of mnd, and 
lined with a thick bed of feathers. One pair that had been 
frequently disturbed whilst building in an exposed situation, 
left their unfinished nest and built another in the root of a 
tuft of long grass which hung down from the inside of the 
roof of an outhouse. This one they concealed so artfully^ by 
suspending long straws from its outer surface, that it was 
only by watching the birds that I discovered it. At the time 
of the arrival of these birds the weather was fine and warm, 
and their numbers were soon greatly increased ; but in a few 
days the weather became cold and wet, and all the Swallows 
left oflp building. One pair left their half-finished nest in an 
outhouse, and built upon a rafter close by it a larg*e loose nest 
of straw and feathers, well lined with the latter (there was no 
mud), and partly arched over with straw. In this nest the 
two birds used to sit, side by side, the whole day long. As 
soon as the warm weather returned they left their warm 
retreat, and I never saw them use it afterwards. It was evi¬ 
dently built merely as a temporary resort during the cold 
weather; and it was the only one I saw ; the other birds sat 
huddled together upon the rafters. 
The eggs vary very much in size and shape, as well as in 
the colour and disposition of the spots. The measurements 
vary from 8J to 10 lines in length ; but the breadth is gene¬ 
rally about 6| lines. The spots are sometimes small and 
partly blotched, sometimes distinct, and sometimes much 
larger at the large end, around which they occasionally form 
a ring. Some eggs are spotted with dark brown, some with 
reddish brown, and others with yellowish brown; and these 
varieties often occur in the same nest. 
The favourite place for building was under the eaves of two 
outhouses which were only a few feet apart, and the most 
noisy place in the redoubt—the constant resort of women, 
children, and dogs. They often build in old deserted native 
huts ; and at Port Clarence, in lat. 65^ 20' N., the furthest 
north that they appear to go, they were breeding in a clifi* at 
some little distance from the sea. 
Most of the nests had eggs in on the 19th of June, when 
