Five or six or more feet down the chimney does this little bird
begin to form her nest about the middle of May, which consists,
like that of the house-martin, of a crust or shell composed of dirt or
mud, mixed with short pieces of straw to render it tough and
permanent; with this difference, that whereas the shell of the
martin is nearly hemispheric, that of the swallow is open at the top,
and like half a deep dish: this nest is lined with fine grasses, and
feathers which are often collected as they float in the air.
Wonderful is the address which this adroit bird shows all day long
in ascending and descending with security through so narrow a
pass. When hovering over the mouth of the funnel, the vibrations
of her wings acting on the confined air occasion a rumbling like
thunder. It is not improbable that the dam submits to this
inconvenient situation so low in the shaft, in order to secure her
broods from rapacious birds, and particularly from owls, which
frequently fall down chimneys, perhaps in attempting to get at
these nestlings.
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