Where does a swallow nest?

A swallow builds its nest inside farm buildings and on ledges in old chimneys. The nest is made of mud, straw and saliva, with feathers and wool to line the inside. It takes a pair of swallows up to several weeks to make the saucer-shaped nest in the rafters of a barn. Swallows starts arriving in Europe at the end of March, a little earlier than their close relatives, the house martins. They spend the winter in South Africa and usually return to the same district – and even the same nest – where they settled before. The female lays four or five eggs, white with reddish-brown speckles. She sits on them for about 15 days before they hatch out. Both parents then feed the nestlings with insects which they catch while flying. Swallows usually lay two sets of eggs.

They leave for their winter quarters in September, gathering in large flocks and often perching on telephone wires, before setting off. The young birds of the first brood leave before their parents and, by an inborn knowledge, know which way to go.

An old country proverb says: One swallow does not make a summer. This means that when the first one or two swallows arrive, summer has not yet come. It is not until large flocks are seen that countrymen know they can expect the warmer weather.