They are undoubtedly the
most nimble of all the species: and when the male pursues the
female in amorous chase, they then go beyond their usual speed,
and exert a rapidity almost too quick for the eye to follow.
After this circumstantial detail of the life and discerning otorge (in
Greek) of the swallow, I shall add, for your farther amusement, an
anecdote or two not much in favour of her sagacity:
A certain swallow built for two years together on the handles of a
pair of garden-shears, that were stuck up against the boards in an
out-house, and therefore must have her nest spoiled whenever that
implement was wanted: and, what is stranger still, another bird of
the same species built its nest on the wings and body of an owl that
happened by accident to hang dead and dry from the rafter of a
barn. This owl, with the nest on its wings, and with eggs in the
nest, was brought as a curiosity worthy the most elegant private
museum in Great Britain. The owner, struck with the oddity of the
sight, furnished the bringer with a large shell, or conch, desiring
him to fix it just where the owl hung: the person did as he was
ordered, and the following year a pair, probably the same pair, built
their nest in the conch, and laid their eggs.
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