swallow1 (swolo)

[Early mod. E. also swalow, swolow; titi on collectively. organs of deglu IMG:content-2582.png:[blocks in formation] The thirde he caste Mare Adriaticum. Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 1104. in a swalowe of ye see called Fabyan , Chron., lxix. 3. A deep hollow in the ground; a pit.-4. The space in a block between the groove of the sheave and the shell, through which the rope reeves.-5. A funnel-shaped cavity occurring not uncommonly in limestone regions, and especially in the chalk districts of France and England. Also called swallow - hole or sink hole. See sink- hole .-6. The act of swallowing. Attend to the difference between a civilized swallow and a barbarous bolt. Noctes Ambrosianæ , Dec., 1834. 7. That which is swallowed; as much as is swallowed at once; a mouthful. IMG:content-2583.png:[blocks in formation] swalu, swalo, = OHG. swalawa, MHG. swalwe, G. schwalbe Icel. Sw. svala Dan. svale = Goth. * swalwō (not recorded), a swallow; orig. Teut. * swalgwon, perhaps = Gr. ἀλκυών (written also άλκυών, and erroneously a ociated with άλs, sea), a kingfisher: see halcyon.] 1. A fi irostral oscine pa erine bird with nine primaries; any member of the family Hirundinidæ, of which there are numerous genera and about 100 species, found in all parts of the world. The leading species of swallows are the barn-swallows of the genus Hirundo, with long deeply forked tail having the lateral feathers elongated and linear toward their ends, and with lustrous steel-blue plumage on the upper parts, and more or le rufous plumage below. The common bird of Europe is H. rustic a; that of America is H. erythro gastra. They are called barn - swallows because they usually build their nests of straw and mud on the rafters of barns. The house-swallow or martin of Europe is Cheli don urbica, of a genus not represented in America. The purple martin of North America is a very large swallow, Progne sub is or P. purpure a, the male of which is entirely lustrous steel-blue; several similar species of the same genus inhabit other parts of America. The most widely diffused species of the family is the bank-swallow or sand-martin, Clivicola or Cotile riparia, common to both hemispheres, of a mouse-gray and white coloration, without luster, breeding in holes in banks. Cliff-swallows are several species of the genus Pet roc he lid on, found in various parts of the world. That of the United States is P. lunifrons, also called republican swallow, mud - swallow, and eaves-swallow. These build nests almost entirely of pel under eaves, etc. Rough-winged swallows are several lets of mud stuck together in ma es on the sides of cliffs, forms of the genera Psalidoprocne and Stelgidopteryx, as S. serr i pennis of the United States, having the outer web of the first primary serrate with a series of recurved hooks. It is of dull-grayish coloration, resembling the bank-swallow. The white-bellied swallow of the United States is Tachyci IMG:content-2584.jpg:[blocks in formation] White-bellied Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). the Bahamas and rarely found in Florida. Swallows mainly insectivorous birds (though some of them eat ber. ries also), and usually capture their prey on the wing with great addre . Their wings are long, pointed, and narrow bladed, giving great buoyancy, speed, and extension of flight. The feet are small and weak, and scarcely used for progre ion, but chiefly for perching and clinging. The song is a varied and voluble twittering, but the American martin has a strong, rich, musical note. Swallows America have long been noted, not only for the extent, are in most countries migratory; and those of Europe and but also for the regularity, of their migratory movements. Each species has its regular time of appearing in the spring, which may be predicted with much confidence; it is, however, to some extent dependent upon the weather, or the general advancement or retardation of the opening of the season. In the autumn swallows are often governed in leaving their summer resorts by the approach of storms or cold weather, and they are thus to some extent weather-prophets. Their modes of nesting are more variable than is usually the case among birds so intimately related in other habits and in structure; and swallows also show, to an ex tent unequaled by other birds, a readine to modify their primitive nest ing-habits in populous regions. Thus, fication of the seven species of swallows which are common in the Unit distinct categories: (1) holes in the ground, dug Nest of a Swallow. ed States shows four by the birds, slightly furnished with soft materials: bank swallow, rough-winged swallow; (2) holes in trees or rocks, not made by the birds, fairly furnished with soft materials: white-bellied and violet-green swallows and purple martin; (3) holes or their equivalents, not made by the birds, but secured through human agency, and more or le furnished with soft materials by the birds: formerly no species, now six of the seven species (all excepting the bank-swallow); (4) nests elaborately con structed by the birds, plastered to natural or artificial cliff-swallow and the barn-swallow, especially the former. The eggs of the swallows likewise differ more than is usual surfaces, and loosely furnished with soft materials: the in the same family, some being pure-white, others pro fusely spottedio Among species in the United States, two, barn-swallow and the cliff-swallow, lay spotted eggs; the other five, whole-colored eggs. This difference is interesting, taken in connection with the mode of breeding, since it is the general rule with birds that hole-breeders lay white eggs, and that nest-builders, especially those whose nests are elaborate and open, lay colored eggs. See also cuts under bank - swallow, barn - swallow, eaves - swallow, hive -nest, Progne, rough - winged, and three - tailed. 2. Some bird likened to or mistaken for a swallow. Thus, the swifts, Cypselidæ, belonging to a different order of birds, are commonly miscalled swallows, as the chimney-swallow of the United States, Chætura pelagic a. (See cut under Chætura.) The so-called edible swallows' nests are built by swifts of the genus Col local i a. See Col local i a (with cut) and swift1, n., 4. 3. A breed of domestic pigeons with short legs, squat form, white body, colored wings, and shell-crest. Numerous color-varieties are noted. The birds sometimes called fairies are usually cla ed as swallows.-4. The stormy petrel. Also sea-swallow. [Prov. Eng.] swallowable (swol'ō-a-bl), a. [ The reader who for the first time meets with an anecdote in its hundredth edition, and its most mitigated and swallowable form, may very naturally receive it in simple good faith. Maitland, Reformation, p. 315. ( Davies .) A swallow-chatterert (swol'ō-chat"ėr-ér), n . waxwing; a bird of the genus Bombycilla , or restricted genus Ampelis . See cut under wax- wing. Swains on. swallow-day (swol'ō-dā), n. The 15th of April. Hall i well. [Prov. Eng.] swallower (swol'ō-ėr), n. [ I have often considered these different people with very great attention, and always speak of them with the distinction of the Eaters and Swallowers . Tatler, No. 205. ( Latham .) swallow-fish (swol'ō-fish), n. The sapphirine gurnard, Trigla hirundo ; the red-tub. swallow-flycatcher (swol'ō-fli" kach-er), n. Same as swallow -shrike. Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 38. swallow-hawk (swol'ō-hak), n. The swallow tailed kite, Elanoides forficatus , formerly Nau clerus furcatus: so called from its shape and mode of flight. See cut under Elanoides . swallow-hole (swol'ō-hōl), n. Same as swallow1, 5, and sink -hole. Sometimes a district of limestone is drilled with vertical cavities ( swallow - holes or sinks). A. Geikie, Encyc. Brit., X. 271.