_Mrs. B._ They belong to the same order, called _hirundines_. There are four kinds of British _hirundines_:--the house-martin, the swallow, the swift, and the bank-martin, which have each habits peculiar to themselves. The swallow is the first that makes its appearance in spring; generally about the middle of April. It frequently builds in chimneys, five or six feet from the top, and prefers those stacks where there is a constant fire; no doubt, for the sake of the warmth. It does not select the immediate shaft where there is a fire, but prefers one adjoining the kitchen, and disregards the smoke by which it is almost continually enveloped. The nest of the swallow, like that of the house- martin, consists of a shell, composed of dirt or mud, mixed with short pieces of straw to strengthen it. The shape is, however, somewhat different: it is lined with fine grass and feathers, which are collected by the little architects as they float in the air. Having constructed their dwelling, the hen lays from four to six white eggs, dotted with red specks, and brings out her first brood about the last week in June. I have been frequently amused in watching the progressive method by which the young ones are introduced into life: they first emerge from their place of concealment with difficulty, and frequently I have found a young one in the parlour, which had fallen down the chimney in its first attempt to leave the next. For a day or two, the old ones feed them on the chimney-top, after which, they conduct them to the dead bough of some tree near at hand, where they continue attending them with the greatest assiduity. In a few days after this, the young brood is enabled to fly, but it is some time longer before the little creatures can take their own food; until which time, they are fed by the parent birds, with the most affectionate solicitude. As soon as they are disengaged from their necessary attendance on their first brood, they betake themselves to the business of rearing a second, which they bring out towards the end of August. This little bird is an instructive pattern of unwearied industry and affection; for, from morning till night, whilst their young ones require support, they spend the whole day in their service. Their food consists of flies, gnats, and a small species of beetle, and they drink as they fly along, sipping the surface of the water. They settle, occasionally, on the ground, to pick up gravel, which is necessary to grind and digest the food of all birds. [Footnote: for the preceding and following account, see White's Natural History of Selberne.] _Ferdinand_. Pray mamma, how can we distinguish a swallow from the other species of _hirundines_? I think that is the name by which you call them. "By the length and forkedness of their tails," returned Mrs. Bernard: "they are much more nimble, too, than the other species." _Louisa_. Do they always build in chimneys, pray, mamma?