by some days, the Swallow generally comes to us in pairs,
though several or many pairs may be in company, and where
a single bird only is seen the presumption may be fairly
entertained that it has lost its mate through some accident of
travel.
Arrived in this country the Swallow at once attaches itself
to the habitations of man, mostly preferring such as are
near water since they probably supply more plentifully the
winged insects on which it almost solely subsists.* These are
sought in the air nearly all day, for the power of flight this
species enjoys enables it to remain on the wing for hours
in succession with little apparent fatigue. It is one of the
earliest birds to awake in the morning and few are so late
to take rest. Towards the end of April or the beginning of
May, should the season be favourable, the site of the nest is
chosen, and in most cases resort is had to the place that in
former years has served the same purpose, the old structure,
if still remaining, being repaired and refurnished. In many
parts of the country the nest is frequently built inside a
chimney, at some five or six feet from the top, advantage
being taken of any irregularity of surface to obtain support
for the foundation; but in other districts such a situation is
rarely or never selected, and the Swallow will establish itself
in the disused shaft of a mine, or an old well, while sheds,
barns, or any buildings with open roofs, to which access can
be constantly obtained, are almost everywhere occupied, the
nest being then commonly placed on a wall-plate, girder or
any horizontal beam. A favourite site is afforded underneath
bridges of wood or iron, as well as clock-turrets, and, though
much more rarely, the nest may be built beneath the eaves
of a cottage. So familiar is the bird with man, that it will
often enter inhabited houses, if a window always kept open,
a broken pane of glass, or a perforated shutter give it free
admission, and begin its nest on a shelf, ledge or any projection
that may serve as a buttress, for without some such
inducement the little mason seldom commences its opera-
* In the spring Swallows seem to feed almost exclusively on gnats and
crane-flies, but in summer small beetles are very largely taken.
tions. Many more exceptional sites used by the Swallow
have been observed—a bracket, a picture-frame and a bell-
crank among others. A nest built on the wings and body of
a dead Owl, hanging from a rafter in a barn, as mentioned
by White, was long preserved in the Leverian Museum, and
afterwards became the Author’s property,* while an instance
almost exactly similar is recorded by Thompson. The halfopen
drawer of a table, and the loop of a chain in a boathouse,
have equally given the needful accommodation, as well
as ships, from Cleopatra’s galley (according to Plutarch)
to the steam-tug of our own times, if we may believe newspaper
stories; but perhaps the most unwonted site known to
have been chosen was on the bough of a sycamore hanging
low over the moat, at Penshurst in Kent, in 1882, as
represented in the vignette from a drawing by Mr. Cooke,
R.A., executed at the request of Mr. Wells of Redleaf.
Blyth states that he had known an instance of this species
building in a hole of a tree, about thirty feet from the ground.
Couch says (Mag. N. H. v. p. 735) that he had seen it
visiting a cave near Polperro in such a way as to suggest
its using the place for breeding, and Mr. Edward asserts
(Zool. p. 6842) that it breeds on the Banffshire coast
wherever there is a suitable cave or projecting rock; but
confirmation of each of these statements is desirable, since
no similar instances seem to have presented themselves to
other observers in the United Kingdom or indeed in Western
Europe.
Wheresoever placed, the nest is formed of small lumps of
moist earth, which the bird may be seen collecting on the
ground at the water’s edge, and tempering (it is believed) with
its saliva. These are carried in its bill to the chosen spot,
there to be modelled with short straws and sticks into the
required shape, which is generally that of half a saucer,
* The Editor was told by Mr. Yarrell shortly before his death that this
historical specimen, was still in his possession, but at the sale of his effects it was
not forthcoming. White says that the Owl and its burden being brought away,
a conch-shell was fixed in the same place and the next year a Swallow’s nest was
built in it.