[Illustration: THE ARIEL (_Chelidon Ariel_).]
The ARIEL SWALLOW, or FAIRY MARTIN (_Chelidon Ariel_), as the Australian
representative of our Roof Swallow is called, is about three inches and a
half in length. The upper part of its body is deep blue, the top of the
head rust-red, the rump brownish white, and the tail dark brown; the eye
is blackish brown, the beak black, and the foot brownish grey. According
to Gould, the Ariel appears in the southern and western portions of
Australia about August, and, seeking after its old haunts, lays two or
three broods, and departs again in February. In some situations the nests
of this species are built crowded together under eaves of houses and
hollow trees, or beneath the shelter of an overhanging rock; the male
birds assist in the construction of the long flask-like passage by which
the actual home for the young is entered, and fetch clay for the females
while employed in building.
"Until my arrival in the colony of New South Wales," says Gould, "I had
no idea of the existence of this new and beautiful Martin, nor, in fact,
until I was awakened by its twittering notes at the bedroom window at
the inn in Maitland did I discover that I was surrounded by hundreds of
this species, which were breeding under the verandahs and corners of the
windows, precisely after the manner of the Common Martin. Several of
their bottle-shaped nests were built round the house, and from thence I
obtained as many eggs as I desired. I observed this bird throughout the
district of the Upper Hunter, as well as in every part of the interior,
breeding in various localities, wherever suitable situations presented
themselves, sometimes in the holes of low decayed trees, while not
unfrequently clusters of nests were attached to the perpendicular banks
of rivers, the sides of rocks, &c., always, however, in the vicinity of
water. The nest, which is bottle-shaped, with a long neck, is composed
of mud or clay, and, like that of our Common Martin, is only constructed
in the morning and evening, unless the day be wet or lowering. While
building these nests they appear to work in small companies, six or
seven assisting in the formation of each, one of them remaining within
and receiving the mud brought by the others in their mouths. In shape
the nests are nearly round, but vary in size from four to six inches in
diameter, the spouts being eight, nine, or ten inches in length; when
built on the sides of rocks or in the hollows of trees, they are placed
without any regular order in clusters of thirty or forty together, some
with their spouts inclining downwards, others at right angles, &c.; they
are lined with feathers and fine grasses." The eggs, which are four or
five in number, are sometimes quite white, or spotted or blotched with
red; they are eleven-sixteenths of an inch long, by half an inch broad.
* * * * *
The WOOD SWALLOWS (_Atticora_) are delicate birds with long wings (in
which the first and second quills are of equal length), forked tails,
thin beaks, and slender legs, furnished with short toes; the plumage
gleams with metallic lustre, and is much varied in its hues. All the
species included in this group inhabit South America and Africa; they
frequent woods and forests, and build their nests in the trunks of hollow
trees.