. British birds . April or the first week in May. Its black-and-white plumage gives it a very different and a much more attractiveappearance. The only other point in which the two species differgreatly is in the number and colour of the eggs. Those of the piedflycatcher number from five to eight, and are very beautiful, beingof a uniform delicate pale blue, and unspotted. A third species, the red-breasted flycatcher {Musicapa parva),has been included in the list of stragglers from Central and EasternEurope to this country. Swallow. Hinindo nistica. Forehead and throat chestnut-brown ; upper pa
. British birds . April or the first week in May. Its black-and-white plumage gives it a very different and a much more attractiveappearance. The only other point in which the two species differgreatly is in the number and colour of the eggs. Those of the piedflycatcher number from five to eight, and are very beautiful, beingof a uniform delicate pale blue, and unspotted. A third species, the red-breasted flycatcher {Musicapa parva),has been included in the list of stragglers from Central and EasternEurope to this country. Swallow. Hinindo nistica. Forehead and throat chestnut-brown ; upper parts, sides ofneck, and a bar across the breast black, with violet reflections;lower parts dull reddish white. Tail long and forked. Female: SWALLOW 119 less red on the forehead and less black on the breast; under partswhite; outer tail-feathers shorter. Length, seven and a halfinches. The swallow, as we usually see him, gliding and doubling in theair with a freedom surpassing that of other birds, has considerable. Fig. 44.—Swallow. | natural size. beauty, being richly coloured and of an elegant figure, with sharplyforked tail and long, pointed wings. But this is not the reason ofthe charm he has for us, since there are other more beautiful birdsthat inspire no such feeling. He is loved above most species onaccount of his domestic habits and familiarity with man. Therewould be few swallows in a dispeopled and savage England, withall its buildings crmnbled to earth, for he would then be compelledto return to the original habits of the wild swallow, and build hismud cradle in rocky cliffs and caverns. As things are he is notdependent on cHffs, for he has taken kindly to human habitations,and increases with the increase of house-building, until he hacbecome one of the commonest and most generally diffused being a house-bird, and accustomed to the human form, whenour summer migrants return to us with the return of the sun, andthe others seek their customary homes in wo
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Keywords: ., bookauthorhudsonwh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1921
