swallow (1), swalow, swalowe

[A. S. swale we; cogn. with Dut. zwaluw; Icel. svala (gen it. svõlu ); Dan. svale; Sw. svala; O. H. Ger. sualawá; Ger. schwalbe.] I. Ord. Lang.: In the same sense as II. 2. II. Technically : 1. Naut.: The groove around a tackle-block for the strap. Also called the Score. 2. Ornith.: Any one of the numerous pa erine birds of the family Hirundinidæ . In this country the best-known species are the barn swallow; the cliff, eaves, or chimney swallow; the white-bellied or tree swallow, and the bank swallow. The species usually described by naturalists as the type of the family is Hirundo rustic a , a well-known European visitor, whose arrival from Africa (usually about the middle of April) is eagerly looked for as a sign of approaching summer. Swallows usually arrive in pairs-a male and a female-though several pairs often form a small flight; but if a single bird is seen to arrive, there is a strong presumption that it has lost its mate. They return with unfailing regu larity to their old haunts, and in May commence building their nests, which are in shape somewhat like a flattened cup, divided perpendicularly; they are made of clay, mnd, and straw, lined with horsehair or feathers, and the eggs, which are from four to six in number, are white, spotted with a purply red. The food of the swallow consists entirely of winged insects; on their arrival, these birds feed exclusively on gnats and flies, in summer small beetles are very largely taken. These are captured as the birds fly with open mouth, the bristles with which the gape is supplied and the viscid saliva a isting to retain the prey. Like owls, Swallows reject the undigested portions of their food in small pellets or castings. It was formerly believed that Swallows hibernated in temperate climates, but the fact of their migration is proved beyond a doubt, and the old belief has almost, if not entirely, died out. The male is about eight inches long; beak black, forehead, chin, and throat, chestnut; head, neck, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts steel-blue; tail very much forked; under surface buffy-white, legs and toes slender and black, claws black and IMG:content-0655.png:[blocks in formation] Orinth.: Swains on's name for the Bombycillinse, intervals for miles, marking the strike of the lime a sub-family of his Ampelidæ. swallow-fish, s. Ichthy.: The Sapphirine Gurnard Trigla hirundo. [GURNARD.] swallow-hawk, s. [SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.] swallow-pear, s. Bot.: Pyrus torminal is. swallow-plover, s. Ornith.: The genus Glareola. ( Swains on.) swallow prominent-moth, s. [LEIOCAMPA.] swallow-roller, s. stone, even when obscured by accumulations of other material upon its surface. They sometimes descend into caverns, especially in the scar limestone