the leaves of trees, straw, and moss, and usually lays four or five eggs; but it seldom happens in our climate that all these come to maturity. She hatches twice, and sometimes three times, in the year. While she performs the duty of incubation, the male sits on some adjacent branch, to cheer the tedious hours by his harmonious voice, or by the short interruption of his song to give her timely notice of approaching danger.

Nightingales may be taught the notes of other birds, and even to sing by turns in a chorus, and to repeat their couplet at the proper time. They are also capable of learning to articulate words, and many stories are told of the proficiency which they have acquired.

THE Swallow tribe have bills which are short, broad at the bent, small at the point, and slightly curved. Their tongue is short, broad, and cloven, the nostrils are open, and the mouth is wide. Except in one species, the wings are long, and the tail is forked. They have short slender legs, and the toes are placed three before and one behind, with the exception of four species, in which the toes are all placed forward. They have a peculiar twittering voice, fly with extreme rapidity, scarcely ever walk, and perform all

their functions while they are on the wing or sitting. Their plumage is glossed with a rich purple. The wood cut represents the House or Chimney Swallow.

To the martins, and other small birds, the Swallow announces the approach of birds of prey. By a shrill alarming note, he summons around him all his own species and the martins, as soon as an owl or hawk appears. The whole band then pursue and strike their enemy till they expel him from the place; darting down on his back, and rising in a perpendicular line with perfect security. The Swallow will also strike at cats while they are climbing the roofs of houses.

Early in the spring, when the solar beams begin to rouse the insect tribes from their annual state of torpidity, the Swallow is seen returning from its long migrations beyond the ocean; and in proportion as the weather grows warmer, and its insect supply increases, it gathers strength and activity. The breed of the Swallow ought to be cherished, as the bird is of infinite service to mankind by destroying myriads of vermin which would prove fatally prejudicial to the labours of the husbandman. The female builds her nest with great industry on the tops of chimneys, and sometimes breeds twice a year. The greater part of these birds quit our island at the latter end of September; but some are said to retire to holes and caverns, where they pass the winter in a state of torpidity. It is affirmed that, in their torpid state, they can exist even under water.

Of the Swallow tribe, all the birds have been observed to drink while in their flight, sipping the surface of the water. It is, however, generally speaking, only the Swallow that washes on the wing, by making many successive dips into a pond. Swallows will attend horsemen for miles, over wide downs, to collect such insects as are aroused by the trampling of the horses' feet.

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THIS bird, "the temple-haunting Martlet," as it is denominated by Shakspeare, is inferior in size to the swallow, and its tail is much less forked. The plumage, however, is nearly the same; the upper part of the body, wings, and tail being black, glossed with purple; and the under parts white. They are much less agile than the chimney swallow, and have a placid easy motion. These birds sometimes build against the sides of cliff's that overhang the sea; but more frequently under the eaves, in the corners of windows, or under cornices. The materials of the nest are earth, tempered and mixed with straw, and lined with small The little architect straws, grasses, and feathers. builds only during the morning, and allows the fabric to harden during the rest of the day. The same nest is often inhabited for several years.

It would be extremely difficult to bring up these birds in a state of confinement; owing to their subsisting entirely upon insects.

There is a variety called the SAND MARTIN, which forms its nest of grass and feathers in holes in the banks of rivers, or the sides of sand pits. These holes it digs with great expedition, in a serpentine direction, to the depth of not less than two feet. Its motions

are capricious, somewhat like those of a butterfly; it appears in this country nearly at the same time as the swallow; and the female lays from four to six white and semitransparent eggs.

THE SWIFT.

THIS is the largest of the swallow kind known in these climates, being often eighteen inches long, though the entire weight of the bird is not more than one ounce. The whole plumage is of a sooty black, except the throat, which is white. The feet, which are so small that the actions of walking and rising from the ground seem very difficult, are of a particular structure, all the toes standing forward. For this reason the Swift never settles on the ground, unless by accident. They have, however, a strong grasp with their feet, which enables them to cling to walls. It spends more of its time on the wing than any other swallow, and its flight is more rapid. In summer it keeps on the wing at least sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. It breeds under the eaves of houses, in steeples, and other lofty buildings; and makes its nest of grass and feathers. It has but one brood in the summer, and never more than two young ones at a time.

The voice of the Swift is a harsh scream; yet there are few ears to which it is not pleasing, from an agreeable association of ideas, since it is never heard but in the most lovely summer weather.

These birds visit us the latest, and retire the earliest, of all their tribe; as they withdraw from this country before the middle of August, generally by the tenth, and not a single straggler is to be seen by the twentieth. This early retreat is totally unaccountable, as that time is often the most delightful in the year. But what is yet more extraordinary, they begin to retire still earlier in the most southerly parts of Andalusia; where they can by no means be influenced by any defect of heat, or even of food.

THIS bird is nearly five inches in length; the bill is black; the eyes are hazel; the forehead is white; the top of the head, the back, and tail are black; the rump is dashed with ash colour; the wing coverts are dusky, the greater coverts are tipped with white; the exterior sides of the secondary quills are white, as are also the outer feathers of the tail; all the under parts, from the bill to the tail, are white; the legs are black. The female is much smaller, but longer tailed than the male; she is brown where he is black; she likewise wants the white spot on the forehead.

They are most plentiful in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire. They build their nests in holes of trees; the parent birds incessantly feed their young with small flies, which they are very expert in catching.

THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.

ABOUT four inches and three quarters is the length of this species, which has a dusky bill, beset with short bristles; a light brown head and back, obscurely spotted with black; dusky wings and tail, the former of which are edged with white; a white breast and