COVER STORY: SPECIES PROFILE
ALSO called the house swallow, chimney swallow or barn swallow, Hirundo rustica has been associated with human habitation for at least two thousand years. The great majority now choose to return to the same man-made nest location, rather than breed in crevices in cliffs or tree hollows like their ancestors.
A scene I recall from childhood (sadly no more) features a throng of chattering swallows frequenting a farmyard, lined up on the telephone and power lines, singing and chattering. They would nest in farm buildings - stables, cow sheds and tool sheds - oblivious to any human activities taking place or farm animals housed there. When you went in, they would shoot out like speeding arrows. The farmhouse would keep its windows shut, since an open one was an open invitation for a swallow to explore a potential
