. The Saturday magazine . route of any other bird, with whose move-ments we are acquainted, were submitted to the sametest, we should, no doubt, find a similar result. The swallow-tribe is scattered over the surface ofnearly the whole globe; but in the regions betweenthe tropics, where the insects on which these birdssubsist are found in abundance throughout the year,the instinct of migration is not displayed. There are four species of the swallow-tribe knownin England: the House-Martin, whose well-knownnest is found luider the eaves of houses and in theangles of windows; the Chimney-Swallow,
. The Saturday magazine . route of any other bird, with whose move-ments we are acquainted, were submitted to the sametest, we should, no doubt, find a similar result. The swallow-tribe is scattered over the surface ofnearly the whole globe; but in the regions betweenthe tropics, where the insects on which these birdssubsist are found in abundance throughout the year,the instinct of migration is not displayed. There are four species of the swallow-tribe knownin England: the House-Martin, whose well-knownnest is found luider the eaves of houses and in theangles of windows; the Chimney-Swallow, that buildsits nest in old chimneys, bams, and hay-stacks; theSand-Martin, that frequents holes in sand-banks; and the largest of the tribe, the Swift, or GreatBlack Swallow. The House-Martin arrives in England about thebeginning of April, and is followed about the middleof the same month, by the Chimney-Swallow and * Swallows have been considered to fly at the rate of sixty nules inthe hour, Swifts at the rate of The Houie-Mdrtin—Tli6 SvAft—The Sand-U<invn—Tk« (JhtmneySwiillinb* 102 THE SATURDAY MAGAZINE. [March 16, the Sand-Martin; but it is near the end of Aprilbefore the Swift makes its appearance. The swallows belong to that tribe of birds calledby Ctjvier Fissirosiri, (Cloven Beaks,) the gape ofthe beak extending as far back as the hindmost angleof the eye. The swallow takes its prey upon thewing, and this apparently disproportionate gapeaffords it a better chance of seizing insects during itsairy evolutions. In the construction of its nest tlieHouse-lNIartin proves itself much more skilful thanany other species of the swallow-tribe; its mode ofproceeding is thus described by that acute observerof nature, the Rev. Gilbert White. About the beginning of May, if the weather befine, the martin begins to think in earnest of pro-viding a mansion for its family. The crust or shellof this nest seems to be formed of such dirt orloam as comes most readily to hand
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