THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1704, 19 July 1884, Page 27

THE NATURALIST.

The Swallow. ' . . Mr Dresser, in- bis splendid work on' the " Birds of Europe," tells us that the swallow, being entirely an insect feeder, is one of the most useful of email birds. In most parts of Europe it it protected by the peasantry, who object to it Being molested. Swift on the wing, and exceadingly -agile and graceful, it glides with the greatest ease through the air, the tail being usually carried but little expanded, and only spread out to its full extent when, a sudden turn is made to catch a passing insect. During clear, fine weather it is usually aeen flying at a great altitude; but on damp, dull days it skims the ground, following every irregularity of the surface in aearch of its food, The great power of flight of the swallows enables them to persecute and put to flight amy bird of prey which makes its appearance in their neighbourhood. i , The swallow commences to build its neßt soon after its arrival in England, and as a rule, if uadisturbed, it take* possesiion of its old resting-place ; if some favourite nook exists, its nest may repeatedly be destroyed before it will take up its residence elsewhere. Some convenient place under the eaves of a roof, on the beam of an outhouso, or in any shed where ingress and egress are easy, is seleoted; or it will place its nest down the shaft of an old well, on the face of a rock or quarry, or not infrequently in a chimney. The nest, which is open at the top, resembles,. half a cup ; it ie composed of mud or etirt carefully worked together with pieces of straw or other vegetable fibre bo as to form a strong structure, within which short straws are care-, lessly disposed, and the inner bed is composed of a quantity of soft feathers. About' a week is usually the time employed in its construction. The shape of the nest varies attcording to the place where it is built. When on a fra'n it is nearly circular ; but when in a corner it' is fitted in so that the front wall does not even make a half section of a circle.

The swallow has a great liking for tha vicinity of inhabited places, and in country places amopggt the peasantry it ia a welcome gmsfs, and it is considered fortunate if it builds on (.he house. It will place its nest where people are passing and repassing every , moment of the day. Mr Benzon states that at Stubbekjobing, in Denmark, his birthplace, he observed a pair of swallows which built year after year in a shop which was full of peasants all day long. He also says that in a cow-house, in the same village, where the beams were especially suited for nestingplaces for the swallows, he counted, in July 1871, as many as sixty odd nests, and adds that the birds kept the cow-house entirely free from gnats, flies, and other insects, thus amply paying rent for their quarters. They usually rear two broods a year — the -first in May, and the second in July. It is said they pair for life, and it is known that the same marked pair have returned several years in succession to the same nest

In his interesting work on British birds, Mr Booth given us some new aflecdotes ab)out the swallow. He recounts one unfortunate individual was spitted on the point of the arrow which forms the vane on the signal post in Shoreham harbour, and relates that in April' 1874 be s,aw one of the arriving (lock's 'fch.afe had come aoross the Channel tin the storm covering the shore for a quarter ,of a mite in extent. The swallow is readily distinguished from all otber British birds, even when darting past the observer with almost incredible velocity, by the length of , the two outer feathers of the tail, which give it a' strongly' marked forked appearance. In the sunshine the brilliantly burnished dark blue of fcbe' back is very characteristics, and serves at once to prevent Ub being confounded with thb window martin, whose back is partially white, and whose tail is not forked. J±a a destroyer of insects,, the Bwallow iB a, rooßt useful bird, especially in the hop districts, which it greatly frequents,' Those moat noxious insects gnats form a very large portion of their food. Living, as swallows do, exclusively on insects, they hare of nepesaity to migrate to warmer climes on the approach of winter, during which season the spepies is found generally distributed over the northern region of Africa and the southern of Asia, j even as far off as north-west India, Tne utility of the (wallow is generally recognised, and it is consequently unmolested ; but some years since the skin was in fashion for ornaments, and, being sought for by the plumassiers, large numbers were captured. We cannot congratulate those ladies who causa the slaughter of these birds on such a slender pretext ; their beauty, their utility, and' the romance of their lives deserves a more cordial hospitality. — Home paper.

Dr ds Jokqh's Ltanx-BROwK Co* Lrvaft On.— lts I7NX<H7AIiIiED EpyiOAOV IK Co.VSUMmOSANO 'DISXABKS OFTnn CnEsr.—Tbe medical profession of -ill ennntrea now icon«'der Dr de Jongh'n Light-Brown Cod Liver QU-.tt incomparably the moat valuaWo remedy for Consumption »pd Diseases «J-the Chest, No remedy ifo rapidly reitoyes thai exhausted. '<.nkrpngth, JMptoyea ' thA-sntrltiye fun^ttyne, stapß emaciation', oheolia the, periplratlon, qul -t« Ithe cough and O r produpos h taotp mirkeri fend favourable inftueneA on the local wialacjy. Dr Waudby, ph\»lo)»n taituo Here . ford Infirmary, writfS (— " I wn tfclte Dr do Jonah's Mght-brown Ood Liver Oil without »ny difficulty or dislike, and with as little Inconvenience as water alone. Sot only in my own case, but Jn .many ethers Ihvrij seen, it has caused an improvement; of chest symptoms and %n increaaeof Wfiuht, «i> soon, and so laßtlnftly, as tobeqnitd remarkable. I believe Dr'do Jongh'a Oil to bo $w most valuable remedy we posseaaifor chronic and constitutional dlsoaKe." Dr de Jorgh's trighU Brown Ood Liver Oil Is cold only In capsuled Imported balf-pintß,-» I pints, and quarts, with hii.st'nmp and' signature of ihli io]&>cons!gne.es,fon the opsule and the Übel undtr wrapper, by all ohemlstn SoWQonl&neei, BMford, a id, Co; 77 Strand, tendon; .. •